The art of celebrity

Famous folks like Jack Ma attract a lot of cash when their paintings are sold at charity auctions. 'Real' painters sometimes are less than thrilled, Deng Zhangyu reports.

E-commerce tycoon Jack Ma shook the nerve of China's art world after his oil painting Paradise, which he created with well-known artist Zeng Fanzhi, sold at Sotheby's for $5.4 million in Hong Kong on Oct 4, the third on the top 10 lots of that night. The first was Japanese painter Kusama Yayoi's work that sold at $7 million.

According to Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby's Asia, Ma's painting got more than 30 bids and the final bid was 17 times its original estimated price. All the proceeds went to the Paradise International Foundation, an environmental campaign group supported by Ma and fellow entrepreneurs such as Tencent founder Ma Huateng and movie mogul Wang Zhongjun.