The growing market dominance of these three artists is even more evident in the list of 100 top-priced works sold at auction. The list includes 41 of their works (up from 30 last year).

They also achieved three of the five top prices at auction, US$9.7 million for Zeng Fanzhi’s “Mask Series No.6,” US$7 million for Yue Minjun’s “Gweong-Gweong” and US$6.1 million for Zhang Xiaogang’s “Bloodlines: Big Family No.3.”

The other artists to rank in prices for individual works were Liu Xiaodong, 45, and Wang Huaiqing, 65.

This year’s list saw a slight decline in interest for works by older artists. Ninety-year old Wu Guanzhong fell from first to fourth place, while 88-year old Zhao Wuji, who is based in Paris, dropped to fifth place. Zhu Dequn, 89, fell 10 places to 18th.

The market also registered declining interest in the works of academy artists with Ai Xuan down 21 places, Yang Feiyun down 16 places and Chen Danqing dropping off the list.

Artists who moved up the list were mostly those who had been accorded strong domestic and international critical praise such as Liu Xiaodong (up 11 places), Yan Peiming (up 14 places) and Yang Shaobin (up 16 places).

Eleven new artists joined the list, among them Xu Bing, 54, (29th place) who returned from the United States to accept a senior position at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Both the average price of classical works and the number of expensive classic works were lower than those of contemporary works.

    In the 2009 Hurun Most Expensive Classical Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, the top three works are: “Emperor Qianlong’s Review of the Grand Parade of Troops” (Hand Scroll) by Jin Kun, “Giuseppe Castiglione etc., in 1746” (US$8.7 million); “Ten Chysanthemums” (Hand Scroll) by Yuan Dynasty artist Zhao Mengfu (US$7 million), and “Ferrying a Crane” (Hanging Scroll) by Yun Shouping of the Qing Dynasty (US$5.4 million).