3) "Ba People Fetching Water" by Xu Beihong
Xu Beihong's 1938 painting "Ba People Fetching Water" was sold for 171 million yuan (US$25.8 million) by Beijing's Hanhai Auction Co. on Nov. 15, 2010. Xu was born in Yixing, Jiangsu Province.
The sale ended a record year for this sector of the Chinese art market, which is devoted to paintings executed in the modern era but in a traditional Chinese style. The painting has been hailed as one of Xu's finest works, which perfectly reflects the time and the people during the Anti-Japanese War.