Godly Creation: Chinese Art
① Just a month after a Leonardo da Vinci portrait sold in New York for $450m, the race between China and the West for dominance of the global art business shifts to Beijing.
② On Monday China Guardian Auctions will hold its first evening sale in its massive new headquarters.
③ The heirs of Yung Tsing Tao, America's finest collector of Chinese painting, are selling 38 works.
④ The star lot is "Guanyin of the Water Moon", a portrait of the Bodhisattva of compassion, a Buddhist deity, by Zhang Daqian, Picasso's favourite Chinese painter.
⑤ Zhang, who nearly became a Buddhist monk when he was 20, repeatedly painted the deity as a female figure of beatific calm and wisdom.
⑥ Completed in late 1943, and worked in luxuriant red, blue, green and gold, this is his most elaborate version.
⑦ The estimate is 80m-120m yuan ($12m-18m).
⑧ Expect some frenzied bidding—and a final price that will be much higher.
▍话题相关单词
evening sale: 晚间拍卖 (高端洋气)
Yung Tsing Tao: 曹仲英 (中国绘画的顶级藏家)
star lot: (拍卖会上的) 明星拍品
"Guanyin of the Water Moon"：《水月观音》(张大千的作品)
Bodhisattva of compassion /ˌbɒdɪˈsɑːtvə/: 大慈大悲、救苦救难的观世音菩萨
deity /ˈdeɪɪti, ˈdi:ɪti/: n. 神 (不分男女)
▍需要注意的搭配
race between A and B: A 和 B 之间的竞争
race for sth.: 为争夺某物而进行的竞争
shift to some place: 转 (战) 到某个地方
massive headquarters: 巨型总部
▍其他单词
massive: adj. 巨大的 (exceptionally large)
headquarters: n. 总部
heir /ɛ:/: n. 传人；继承人
female figure: 女性形象
beatific /bi:əˈtɪfɪk/: adj. 欢愉的
luxuriant /lʌɡˈʒʊərɪənt, lʌɡˈzjʊərɪənt, lʌkˈsjʊərɪənt/: adj. 奢华的
elaborate /ɪˈlab(ə)rət/: adj. 精心制作的
frenzied /ˈfrɛnzɪd/: adj. 疯狂的