Tiananmen Painting Could Sell for $7M

A sardonic painting by Chinese artist Yue Minjun on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown fetched $628,600 in Hong Kong in November 2005. This month, it may sell for $7 million, Christie's International said Wednesday.

Mr. Yue's "Gweong Gweong" (1993) may set an artist auction record at Christie's Hong Kong sale of Asian works on May 24-25, the company's head of 20th-century Chinese art and Asian Contemporary art, Vinci Chang, said in an interview. The work, an oil on canvas, depicts jets dropping their cargo over a uniformed crowd running along Tiananmen Square in Beijing against the backdrop of the Gate of Heavenly Peace and a portrait of Mao Zedong.

Chinese Contemporary art prices have more than tripled in the past five years as investors bet the nation's growth would spur demand for artworks that interpret modern China.

"Gweong Gweong" is a highlight of London-based Christie's Asian Contemporary art auction, which is expected to fetch a combined $41 million for the 417 works offered.