Selected Auctions

As a distinguished scholar and renowned humanitarian, Dr. T.F. Chen has spent the last half-century constantly and fully immersed in artistic creation and philosophical exploration. Rather than catering to the whims or fads of the commercial art market (which is often fraught with artifice, publicity stunts, and the such), Dr. T.F. Chen has always preferred to focus instead on the quality and depth of his work and message. That is why he has a place in art history, for example, among 12 other renowned living world artists, Dr. Chen is the only Asian artist incorporated in the university-level art history textbook Art & Ideas. The works by the other featured living artists, alongside Dr. Chen, all boast an astronomical market price. Yet few living artists have earned such a scale of international achievement and recognition in both the art world and academia as that of Dr. Chen.

For many decades, the Western art market did not notice Chinese artists. During this time, Dr. Chen and his art agent (The New World Art Center) focused mainly on advancing public understanding and appreciation of his “Five-Dimensional World Culture” theory and his Neo-Iconography art through educational programs and events. The NWAC seeks to conserve a vast majority of Dr. Chen’s works for research studies and future acquisition by art museums, thus his artworks have been considerably underpriced and under-the-radar in the commercial art world.

All of that is changing now. Historically, the art market has been under the command of the western world; however, in recent years, the Asian contemporary art market and Asian artists are now emerging as a strong force. Many contemporary artists are now auctioning at very high prices, especially Chinese contemporary artists (such as at $10 million USD).

As Dr. Chen gains more and more recognition as a master artist with high academic, cultural, and humanitarian achievements, as well as a place in art history, it is inevitable that Dr. Chen’s artworks will fetch these kinds of prices in value as well. The NWAC is also shifting more of its attention towards placing Dr. Chen in the major auction houses, now that the time is right.

Here are some examples of Dr. TF Chen’s artwork at auction from the past.

In December 2008, Dr. T.F. Chen’s artwork Five Races in Harmony (150x100cm; 62.5×41.6”) was auctioned at Poly Auction (the famous Beijing auction house) for $1.47million RMB ($220,000 USD). It was well over the estimated price of $575,000 RMB ($85,000 USD).

In November 2007, Dr. Chen’s work Vive Le Travail (142x198cm) was sold at $1,320,000 RMB ($200,000 USD) at Guardian Auction House. At the same time, another of Chen’s paintings Paradise under the Temple of Heaven (142x198cm) was auctioned for $1,680,000 RMB ($246,000 USD).

In May 2009, one of Dr. Chen’s artworks at the same size (142x198cm) was sold for $3,500,000 RMB ($513,000 USD).

In 1993, Dr. Chen’s work Painting Irises (102x112cm) was auctioned at the price of $50,000 USD at Sotheby’s. Another work Street Musicians was auctioned for $34,000 USD at Christie’s. *Note: this was about fifteen years ago. Now works of his at this size sell for $150,000 – 200,000 dollars USD – an increase of about 4 to 5 times greater.