Songbai Gaoli Tu by Qi Baishi has amazed observers by fetching 425 million yuan, quadruple its original estimate.

Although summer has been with us for some time already, the art world's "spring sales," started by Sotheby's Hong Kong in early April, are still far from ending.

Previews continue to be held at high-end hotels, aiming to get the new lots enough exposures before they go under the hammer. Meanwhile, some houses are already busy calculating what they've reaped from the 2011 spring market.

Harvest for all

"It is, indeed, a season of harvest for all," commented market observer Zhao Yu, who has been analyzing the art scene for decades. "Both auction houses and wealthy collectors are winners."

Among the wide range of antiques and contemporary artworks fetching high prices, ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy have proved most popular in recent years. That momentum has continued.

Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) painter Wang Meng's classical ink-wash painting Zhichuan Resettlement was definitely the shining star of this year's season, going for 402.5 million yuan ($62.11 million), at Beijing Poly's June 4 evening sale.

The drawing depicts the famous story of alchemist Ge Hong, of the East Jin Dynasty (316-420), who moved his home to Luofu Mountain to practice alchemy. In the painting Ge and four companions are seen traveling through the mountains with a bull.

Although more than 600 years have passed since, the painting is still intact, with the stamps and poems of the artists and collectors whose hands it passed through adding a palimpsest of ownership and authenticity.

In terms of value, this ancient work proved secondary only to the hand scroll Dizhuming, by Song Dynasty (960-1279) calligrapher and painter Huang Tingjian, which sold for 436.8 million yuan ($63.8 million) at Poly's last year.

Modern trumps classical

But modern and contemporary paintings are also seeing their prices soaring. Although experts had speculated the market would maintain growth, most are still stunned by the frequent record-breaking sums achieved.

A work by painter Qi Baishi (1864-1957) was sold for 425.5 million yuan ($65.5 million), for example, even exceeding prices reached by the ancient masters.

Painted in the 1940s for Chiang Kai-shek for his 60th birthday, Songbai Gaoli Tu depicts an eagle on a pine tree, flanked by calligraphy scrolls.

Experts had speculated that the rare piece would probably fetch around 100 million yuan ($15.43 million), as it was among Qi's best works and rarely auctioned.

In fact, it ended up fetching over four times that; half an hour of bidding resulted in a sale price of 425 million yuan ($65.58 million).

Qi is among the most valuable of Chinese artists. Last year, his sales volume was listed just behind Pablo Piccaso and Andy Warhol.

"Although Qi is among the most prized of Chinese artists, it's still unbelievable that a single piece fetched such a sky-high price," commented art expert Zhao Li. "Maybe the market really is crazy."

Cash for all

Certainly, the signs all seem to be there: All 25 works of Wu Guanzhong, who dies last June, were sold this month, among which was Lion Woods (115 million yuan, $17.74 million) and 14 others, each fetching over 10 million yuan ($1.54 million).

Wu is widely respected as a master who perfectly incorporated traditional Chinese ink painting and Western skills, making huge contributions in bridging East and West.

Lion Woods by Wu Guanzhong.

Lion Woods, a piece by Wu, displays his mastery of both Chinese and Western painting techniques. Depicting a traditional garden in Suzhou, it resembles both a beautiful Chinese landscape as well as a Western abstract painting.

Some say there are no losers despite fierce competition: Sales figures for every single auction house, whether large or small, have exceeded previous years, without exemption.

"You don't worry about making records, as long as you have good pieces," market expert You Yong observed.

Some joke that the spring sales should be renamed "summer sales," as every auction these days is heated and the temperature keeps rising every year.

China has overtaken the US as the world's largest art market, accounting for 33 percent of total sales, according to a survey last month by French art market website artprice.com.