Who is the most famous painter in China?

The older generation of painters who are still alive can be roughly divided into three levels: the first level, represented by Wu Guanzhong. Since the late 1980s, some large overseas institutions have highly praised Wu Guanzhong, making his works popular at home and abroad. For example, his "Gaochang Ruins" was sold at Christie's auction in 1989 for1870,000 Hong Kong dollars, which was the highest price of works by living painters at that time. 1994, his "Jiaohe Old Town" was sold by Sotheby's for HK$ 2.55 million, which once again set his sky-high price. What is particularly surprising is that at the Christie's auction in 1996, Wu Guanzhong's Song of Beijing earned a good result of172,000 yuan in just one square foot. Now, Wu's works are worth hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan in the market.

The second level includes painters such as Qi Gong, Cheng Shifa, Guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai, Huang Yongyu, Fan Ceng, Chen Peiqiu, Liu Danzhai and Yaming. Their works have become regular auctions in domestic auction houses and are favored by collectors at home and abroad.

The third level is Bai Xueshi, Wei Zixi, Chen Dayu, Cui Zifan, Xu Bangda, Wu Qingxia and Xiao Shufang. Their works often appear in the auction market. Judging from the above-mentioned painters, their artistic achievements represent the highest level of living painters at present.

Others include Shi Guoliang (painting monks), Ding Shaoguang (serving as a representative painter of the United Nations for three consecutive years, and his works set a record for the highest selling price of living painters in China) and Zhao Wuji (one of the most valuable and prestigious artists in the world).