Sale of Million-Dollar Fake Painting Leads to Auction Law Debate

An oil painting said to be the work of famous Chinese artist Xu Beihong sold at auction¹ for more than 70 million yuan in an auction last year. However, a group of painters recently have claimed that's their school work years ago as students in China Central Academy of Fine Arts. The incident has provoked anger among Chinese collectors and at the same time raised questions about who should be responsible for the authenticity³ of artworks up for auction.

Let's take a closer look with our reporter Liu Min.

 
The painting in question depicts⁵ a naked woman believed to be Xu Beihong's wife, Jiang Biwei, in the 1920s. In 2007, Xu's eldest⁶ son, Xu Boyang proved the authenticity of the picture through a written endorsement⁷. The masterpiece was auctioned⁸ by the Jiuge International Auction Company last year for 72.8 million yuan. But recently, 10 artists who graduated from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s declared in an open letter that the work was actually painted by one of their classmates in May of 1983 as an assignment.

Professor Yang Songlin from the Shandong University of Arts, who is also the head of Shandong Province's Oil Painting Association is one of the co-authors of the open letter. He has confirmed that the work had been made by a classmate.

"The model was a girl from southern China. The painting made a very deep impression on me. My classmates found out about the auctioned painting first and then called me to take a look at the work. I recognized right away that the painting was actually the work of one of our classmates. We are very familiar with all kinds of masterpieces from around the world, but we've never seen a painting by Xu Beihong like this."

Together with the open letter, the 10 classmates including professor Yang Songlin also publicized a series of photos of oil paintings including the auctioned one. The photos show five oil paintings which depict⁴ the same model from different angles, and the auctioned painting was among them.

Renowned⁹ artist Chen Danqing also echoed Professor Yang Songlin's comments. He says that the picture can't even be called a counterfeit¹⁰ since it is not even a copy of one of Xu's paintings.

"A counterfeit copy means someone imitated the original artwork right down to all the little details. To pass itself off as an authentic² one, you've got to at least imitate the original masterpiece by heart, but this auctioned one is not even a counterfeit. We've been drawing paintings for half a century. We know Xu Beihong never painted this one. It's an outright¹¹ lie."

According to the Auction Law, the auctioneers' legal responsibility can be waived¹² as long as they claim, in writing, before the auction, that they can't guarantee the authenticity or the quality of the products. Such a clause has helped many auction companies in China to evade¹³ their legal responsibilities. Renowned artwork collector Ma Weidu is also frustrated¹⁴ that the auction industry in China is a total mess.

"There are no unanimous legal procedures to follow in this industry for auction companies at all. They usually make up their own rules. They are just a commercial entity¹⁵, similar to a shopping mall. So don't expect that they can guarantee the authencity of the products they put up for auction."

Many law practitioners¹⁶ are also questioning whether such logic¹⁷ also means that it's legal to sell or auction fake artworks in China. Many collectors and law experts are calling for a change in the auction laws to maintain standards in the auction industry.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

3 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

4 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

5 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

6 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

7 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

8 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

10 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

11 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

12 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

13 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

14 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

16 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

17 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。