Rembrandt, Chinese painters star in Sotheby's first major China sale

Workers install Sotheby's large banner on a wall during Sotheby's Beijing Art Week in Beijing, November 28, 2013.[Photo/Agencies]

Growing Chinese interest in art is a "symptom of an ever increasing cosmopolitanism," added Tinari. At the same time, mainland buyers see art as "a convenient and compelling alternative investment."

Chinese real estate mogul Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, recently made a splash when he bought a Picasso at Christie's in New York for $28.2 million.

Last year, Sotheby's hosted a small, inaugural auction in Beijing when it became the first foreign auction house to obtain a license. Christie's hosted its first auction in Shanghai this September, selling $25 million worth of art, jewelry, watches and wine.

"There have been peaks and troughs, but the overall arc has been consistently upward," said Tinari, noting that 10 years ago, there wasn't much of an art market in China at all.

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