Art for the Uber Rich and Uber Brash

The auction scene when Zhang Daqian's painting was up for sale

In this economic climate the divide between the haves and havenots is even bigger.

Before Art Basel, the big art trade show two weeks ago, there were concerns buyers would not have the money to buy.

Peach Blossom Spring

But overall galleries reported decent sales, some did very well, a few hardly any.

This atmosphere bode well for the auctions which are now underway and Sotheby's has won big this season.

The other day it sold a 2 metre-long painting by Chinese master Zhang Daqian, Peach Blossom Spring for a jaw-dropping HK$271 million (US$34.7 million) including the buyer's premium. It was sold more than three times the pre-sale estimate.

Apparently bidding in the room was quite fierce, with 100 bids within 50 minutes. In the end a telephone bidder was triumphant. And again it was the high profile husband and wife Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei who own the Long Museum in Shanghai who bought the painting.

The brash Liu turned heads when in 2014 the taxi driver turned billionaire bought a tea cup for HK$281.24 million (US$36.3 million). He paid for it by maxing out a stack of credit cards and then celebrated the transaction by drinking tea in it in front of the media.

Wang Wei (left) and Liu Yiqian in their Long Museum

Done in 1982, Peach Blossom Spring is one of Zhang's last works before he died a year later, featuring his use of blue and green colours that is so vivid and rich, bold and quite fearless in how the combination of the inks would work out.

However the end result is fantastic, magical almost, glorious. Google "Peach Blossom Spring" and it's a fable by Tao Yuanming, who talks about a chance discovery of an ethereal utopia where people have an ideal existence with nature and are completely unaware of the outside world.

Contemporary Chinese artist Zhang Daqian

But is it worth that much?

Liu thinks so, exclaiming, "Nothing beats a painting by Zhang Daqian!" on his WeChat social media account.

We do too, but driving up the price that high makes one wonder if it's worth it. Like the Japanese before them in the 1980s, the Chinese are inflating prices on fine art... how long before we come back down to earth?

Triumphant Return

This prized thangka sold for $45 million

Do you know who Liu Yiqian is?

He stunned the auction world this week when he came out victorious in successfully bidding for a Ming dynasty silk wall hanging for HK$348.4 million ($45 million) after a 22-minute intense competition at Christie's auction in Hong Kong.

Usually bidding ends in mere minutes, but he was on the end of the phone line represented by Christie's China president Cai Jingjing, and the other bidder was represented by Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie's Asia Pacific.

Billionaire Liu was ecstatic about his latest possession, saying he was looking forward to bringing it back to China.

Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei

"Before our country wasn't very strong or prosperous, so many things were lost to overseas buyers," Liu said. "Now that we have accumulated wealth, we need to deepen our own cultural sophistication. So we are buying Western art, to say nothing of our own art."

The rare 600-year-old embroidered silk Buddhist thangka depicts Raktayamari, the red Conqueror of Death embracing his consort Vajravetali, trampling Yama, the Lord of Death.

According to antiques dealer Hon Lau, owner of Hollywood Galleries in Central, said the thangka was a series of three, with the other two in Jokang Monastery in Tibet.

The price of the thangka has been steadily rising, having been sold for $1 million in New York 20 years ago, then HK$30 million to a US collector in 2002.

Lau says the 10-fold increase in the price is because Buddhist art has been undervalued in the past.

"This thangka is a magnificent piece of historical artwork made of top-notch craftsmanship," said Lau. He said the imperial mark of "Yongle" [commissioned by Emperor Yongle in the 15th century] added great value to the piece.

"I have had collectors telling me that they wouldn't want to trade this even if they were given 10 chicken cups," he said.

Liu sips tea from his newly acquired "chicken cup"

Lau is referring to the HK$281.24 million ($36.3 million) Liu spent in April to acquire the Meiyintang Chenghua "chicken cup" at the Sotheby's Hong Kong auction.

Liu raised eyebrows when he paid for the cup by maxing out several credit cards and then had tea poured into the cup which he drank for reporters and photographers.

Liu's story is that he used to be a taxi driver and then hit the jackpot playing the stock market, while his wife is Wang Wei claims to be an art expert. They have a collection of traditional and contemporary Chinese art that is displayed in their privately-owned Long Museum, in two locations in Shanghai.

It's interesting that Tibet Buddhist art is highly appreciated and yet the current situation in the region is far from calm...

He seems to take pride in this kind of cultural colonialism, which may be quietly endorsed by Beijing.

So where did he get over HK$500 million to snap up these two pieces this year? Or did he hit the super jackpot?