An ancient painting with an odd-shaped stone has sold for 512.9 million yuan (about $76.71 million) at Poly Auction in Beijing, breaking the record for the most expensive ancient Chinese artwork sold at auction.

The painting also fetched the highest price for a Chinese art item sold globally this year.

The starting price was 100 million yuan on the spot, followed by a direct bid that doubled that. After more than 40 minutes of bidding, it was finally sold for 446 million yuan with a 15% commission putting the final transaction price at 512.9 million yuan.

The painting, which had attracted the attention of many collectors, is of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). According to the auction house, the scroll, by the Ming Court painter Wu Bin, was painted around 1610.

It is actually quite simple: based on an odd-shaped stone collected by Mi Wanzhong, a famous stone collector. Wu Bin drew it from ten different perspectives. It is rare in the history of ancient Chinese painting for its combination of form and spirit. In addition, the theory of geometry, rhythm and Chinese philosophy's five elements are also included.

In December 1989, the scroll was first sold at Sotheby's in New York for a staggering $1.21 million, becoming the first Chinese painting to break the millions of transaction records since the establishment of Sotheby's.

The uniqueness of this work of art, its creativity and artistic value and its ideological value are in line with this price, according to analysts. "If it shows up again in the future, it might even set a new record," said Fan Changjiang, general manager of Beijing Poly auction of ancient painting and calligraphy department. "The desire for art is still very strong."  

In addition to the painting, more than 520 pieces of ancient paintings were sold for a combined 1.025.9 billion yuan at this latest Poly auction.