The Five Nudes That Set Sanyu's Auction Record (Twice)

Sanyu's Five Nudes (1950) sold for $38.85m (HKD304m) at Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, 2019. The oil on masonite work had been traded 7 times in the past, including setting the artist's auction record in 2011.

Born in China to a wealthy family, Sanyu arrived in Paris in 1921 and stayed there, leading a bohemian life as a young artist who went everywhere with his notebook. He produced many studies in ink and pencil on paper, typically featuring the female nude, a daring subject for a Chinese artist.

When money from his family dried up in the 1930s, he began lacquering and staining furniture to earn money. He also produced drawings for a Chinese furniture maker in Paris. The rich colours and simple lines of furniture and ceramics inspired him to take a new direction in his paintings, which combined the bold simplicity of modern Western with the elegance of traditional Chinese art, albeit featuring a non-traditional subject.

A trip to New York after World War 2, primarily to promote "ping tennis", led to an unlikely friendship with the Swiss photographer Robert Frank. Sanyu returned to Paris empty handed, however, his art failing to find collectors and his table-tennis business a flop.

There has been a steady rise in interest in Sanyu's art, as well as the the work of other Asian artists who were drawn to Paris in the the 20th century. In 2025, the National Gallery of Singapore organized “City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s-1940s”, the first major exhibition on this topic, with Sanyu's work featured prominently.

The sale beat Sanyu's previous auction record by $13.62m, a 53% rise. His previous record was set by Nu (1965), which sold for $25.23m at Sotheby's on October 5, 2019. The work had not been traded before.

A Brief History of Sanyu at Auction