2. God of Cloud and Great Lord of Fate by Fu Baoshi (1904-65), 230 million yuan

Most recently, Five Drunken Kings on Horses, a color painting of Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), fetched 303.6 million yuan ($44 million) at a Beijing auction on Dec 4. A packed room of people witnessed a bidding war that lasted about 40 minutes.

Its creator Ren Renfa is little known to many today. He served as a high-ranking official in charge of water conservancy in the Mongol-ruled court while in his spare time, achieved prominence as a painter of horses and grooms.

Because of the rarity of ancient artworks, the sources of their origin are of great significance to collectors who look for key markers such as blue-chip collectors who once owned them and major exhibitions they were featured in.

Ren's painting was kept in Qing's imperial collection and was listed in Shiqu Baoji, a prestigious inventory of Qing emperors' paintings and calligraphic pieces.