Liu Danzhai

Liu Danzhai (刘旦宅) was born on March 1, 1931, in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. He became known for Chinese ink painting, New Year pictures, and cartoon strips, and achieved wide recognition for his illustrations of the classical novel A Dream of Red Mansions. He later taught at the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy and served as a professor in the Art Department of Shanghai Normal University after 1985, according to more than one source, though further specifics of his academic appointments are not independently confirmed. He died of illness at Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai on March 2, 2011, at the age of 80.

Liu Danzhai should not be confused with the contemporary ink painter Liu Dan (刘丹, born 1953), a different artist with a similar Romanized name; some biographical material found online mixes the two. His own formal education has not been confirmed in verifiable public sources. In Western art market databases his name commonly appears reordered as "Danzhai Liu," alongside the standard Chinese-order "Liu Danzhai," and both forms refer to the same artist.

Available sources describe Liu Danzhai primarily through artist reference and auction-catalogue entries rather than sustained critical writing, and no exact, attributable critic quotations about him in major outlets could be confirmed. Specialist print and poster references credit him as a significant figure in Chinese ink painting, New Year pictures, and cartoon strips, and note his popular standing as an illustrator of classical literature. A fuller critical and exhibition history for the artist was not identified in available public sources.

Liu Danzhai's work trades actively, but a fully documented all-time auction record could not be confirmed. Artprice records 2,224 auction events for the artist, and MutualArt lists 715 works at auction with reported realized prices of up to USD 1,422,213 for works on paper and USD 71,415 for paintings, but neither source ties these figures to a specific, dated transaction, auction house, or currency. Recent public listings from other platforms, including Sotheby's and Christie's, show upcoming or past lots but do not disclose realized prices without paid database access. Given these gaps, no single figure can currently be treated as a fully documented all-time auction record for the artist.

Documentation for Liu Danzhai is uneven: his top auction price is reported inconsistently across databases, no catalogue raisonne or authentication program has been identified, and no current gallery or estate representation could be verified. His name also appears in two orders, "Liu Danzhai" and "Danzhai Liu," across different auction platforms, so searches and provenance checks should account for both forms. Given the thinness and inconsistency of public documentation, collectors should treat any single quoted price or biographical claim with caution and verify directly against primary auction house records and dated catalogue entries.