Jane Lai
A 13-DAY 1st China (Shenzhen) Oil Painting Expo ended yesterday at Dafen Oil Painting Village in Longgang District, after deals worth 655 million yuan (US$98 million) were signed.
Featuring a series of oil painting exhibitions, competitions, lectures and forums, the expo attracted more than 200,000 visitors and exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions, including 350 corporate buyers, the Longgang cultural industry office said yesterday.
Fernando Chui Sai-on, chief executive of Macao Special Administrative Region, and Chen Xiaoguang, vice culture minister, attended the expo and said they were impressed with the original works on exhibition. An original works exhibition featured original works by more than 400 artists.
A number of companies, associations and foreign chambers of commerce had signed deals at the expo and Dafen Oil Painting Village alone had signed deals worth more than 400 million yuan with the Shenzhen Decoration Industry Association, the Sino-Singapore Chamber of Commerce and a Shenzhen tourism advertising company.
Nearly all the works were sold at an auction of innovative works and original oil paintings for an average price of 50,000 yuan each.
It was the first time leading Chinese art companies had collaborated in an oil painting expo, which was considered an ideal platform for art professionals to share their works and experience.
Thanks to the expo s international influence, Dafen might be able to set up a Dafen oil painting art center in the United Kingdom and Australia next year, the office said.
Dafen Oil Painting Village is the world s largest oil painting reproduction center and one of China s leading suppliers of high-quality oil painting reproductions for export.
Impressionism and realism, original abstract oil paintings and commissioned portraits from photos are all specialties in Dafen.
