From zero to billions

In just over 30 years China's contemporary art market has grown dramatically. Yu Wentao reports.

No one would have imagined a decade ago that the Chinese contemporary art market would have an annual trading volume of 170 billion yuan ($26.63 billion) in 2010. To provide a comprehensive look at Chinese contemporary art, the Foreign Languages Press has published an illustrated book entitled At Work: Twenty-five Contemporary Chinese Artists. The book profiles 25 painters, sculptors, photographers and conceptual artists, taking the reader into their studios and presenting intimate glimpses of their lives and works. Although traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, engraving and sculpture account for the majority of art creations since 1949, they do not fit into the classification of "contemporary art" here.

Generally, it is acknowledged that China's contemporary art movement emerged from the Star Art Exhibition of 1979, three years after the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) and the beginning of reform and opening-up.