A woman watching the painting 'The Sound of Flute on the River' by Chinese painter Zhang Daqian, in Hong Kong. (AFP PHOTO / FILES / PETER PARKS)

Late Chinese artist Zhang Daqian was the best-selling artist at auction in 2011, global market monitor Artprice told AFP, while Spanish great Pablo Picasso dropped out of the top three.

Chinese artists dominate the top end of the art market. Zhang’s compatriot Qi Bashi was the second top seller and six Chinese artists in all were in the top 10, while Chinese art accounts for 40 percent of sales by value.

“China, which has held the top spot in art auctions since 2010, took two of its star artists to the head of the annual table in 2011,” said Thierry Ehrmann, chairman and founder of Paris-based Artprice.

The third place in the Artprice table was taken by American pop art master Andy Warhol, knocking Picasso – who died in 1973 and has been the bestseller in 13 of the past 14 years – back into fourth place.

Zhang, who lived between 1899 and 1983, was not only top in sales but, according to Artprice, he had the best annual haul of any artist ever with 1,371 pieces going for a total of $554.53 million. Qi, who lived between 1864 and 1957, came in behind, netting art investors $510.57 million and Warhol hit $325.88 million.