Wanda Group defends Picasso art purchase, says 'be proud'

The Dalian Wanda Group wants the Chinese people to be proud that it bought a masterpiece of Spanish-born Pablo Picasso instead of "focusing on the amount of money spent" over it, news portal chinanews.com reported on Saturday.

Wanda, one of China's biggest real estate developers, paid 172 million yuan ($28.22 million) to acquire the Claude et Paloma or Two children, which was painted by Picasso in 1950, at a Christie's auction in New York on Tuesday.

Wanda's bid has shocked Chinese art collectors and Netizens because the company paid more than double the price originally estimated which, according to a Los Angeles Times report, was between $9 million and $12 million.

"Only an enterprise with culture can understand art and collect the best artwork in the world. Chinese people should be proud rather than focus on how much money had been spent," said Guo Qingxiang, the person in charge of Wanda's art collection. "People should treat domestic enterprises with healthy respect. Purchasing the best artwork in the world is a good thing," added Guo.

It is the first instance of any Chinese enterprise buying a Picasso painting in the Western world, according to China Radio International.

Wanda had timed its purchase appropriately alongside a sluggish global economy, Guo said.

"The price of the painting could easily exceed hundreds of millions of dollars five or six years ago," said Guo, adding that the company intends to buy masterpieces of other famed artists such as Claude Monet's Water Lillies when the time is right.

When Guo was asked if Wanda's purchase of Western art would deal a blow to the domestic art market, he said that the move would only raise the bar for Chinese auction houses.

"The top priority of the auction houses should be serving customers, help art collectors identify artwork of real worth and to discover artists of true talent," he said. "However, contemporary Chinese artwork is largely copied. Instead of curbing the phenomenon, local auction houses sometimes work with these artists and hype the price."

Wanda has also acquired another Picasso painting featuring a girl in a hat at 17 million yuan from Tuesday's auction, chinanews.com reported.