Xu Beihong s Slave and Lion (1924) Courtesy of Christie s
Christie s will offer an early oil painting by the 20th-century Chinese Realist artist Xu Beihong with a price tag of £32m to £41m, the highest estimate placed on an Asian work of art by a Western auction house.
Slave and Lion (1924) will be presented in a single lot sale, immediately after Christie s 20th and 21st century Evening Sale in Hong Kong on 24 May.
The most expensive Asian work sold by Christie s currently stands at £41m for
Wood and Rock, an 11th-century handscroll by the Chinese calligrapher Su Shi.
However, the Xu work will need to surpass its high estimate to beat the record holder for an Asian work sold by a Western house a ten-metre oil painting by the late Chinese-French artist Zao Wou-ki that made £46.4m at Sotheby s in Hong Kong in 2018.