Rembrandt, Chinese painters star in Sotheby's first major China sale

A member of staff checks a display prior to the exhibition sale of Sotheby's Diamonds during Sotheby's Beijing Art Week in Beijing, November 28, 2013. China's first full-scale Sotheby's auction of modern and contemporary Chinese art will be held on December 1st. [Photo/Agencies]

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Sotheby's will hold its first major auction on the Chinese mainland on Sunday as competition between the New York-based auction house and its long-time rival Christie's moves into one of the world's hottest art markets amid a government crackdown on corruption and luxury spending.

Sotheby's and its local joint venture partner, Beijing Gehua Art Company, are offering a slate of modern and contemporary Chinese works with a total estimated value of more than 123 million yuan ($20.19 million) as part of "Beijing Art Week".

The event will feature more than 100 lots including canvases by some of China's most renowned oil and ink painters, as well as three selling exhibitions with a selection of diamonds and European furniture and art.

A $50 million Rembrandt, "Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo" will be part of one selling exhibition, while the auction's cover lot, Zao Wou-ki's "Abstraction", is expected to pull in anywhere from 35 million to 45 million yuan ($5.74 million to $7.39 million).

"The Beijing Art Week is basically our first major move into China," said Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby's Asia. "But what we're doing is not just an auction."