In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the popularity of modern art in China, and last week in Beijing, local enthusiasts were treated to an auction preview featuring works by Andy Warhol, Zao Wou-Ki, and Marc Chagall.

One of the main attractions at Christie’s Auction Preview in Beijing was Marc Chagall's tempera piece, The Marriage, which is expected to fetch some 3 million US dollars.

With sumptuous colors and an exuberant innocence, the panel blends together human figures, animals, still-life and landscape imagery in a coherent composition. Like most of Chagall’s works, the Marriage was inspired by the artist’s childhood in a Jewish market town.

It is difficult to imagine that a work of such vitality and vibrancy was created by a man in his early 90s.

“Chagall was born in the 1880s. So he was in his 90s when he painted this piece in 1979,” observed Ms. Tan Bo, senior specialist in modern art at Christie’s China, “You can sense the old man’s reassertion of the youthful vitality deep inside his heart. He was a sprightly old man with a very long artistic career. Actually, he first became known before the First World War. Since then, his style evolved gradually and consistently.”

Mounted at Christie's Beijing art space, the show also features a range of contemporary Chinese works, created mostly by artists born in the 1960s and 1970s. The paintings and sculptures represent an innovative array of styles and approaches.

The highlight was a diptych by the late Zao Wou-Ki, once considered a grand old man in China's contemporary art scene. The two-and-a-half-meter wide canvas is a melding of Chinese and western styles.

“In the painting, you can see brushwork typical of China’s traditional painting and calligraphy. It’s abstract and non-representational, but you cannot miss its beauty if you gaze at it long enough. The lines, shapes, palette, composition all speak volumes for the ideas and originality of the artist,” said Eric Chang, the auction house’s Head of Asian Contemporary Art.

The preview featured more than 60 works of art, which will go under the hammer in Shanghai towards the end of September. In addition to those from Chagall and Zao Wou-Ki, works by Salvador Dali, Kaws, and Andy Warhol are also expected to fetch millions of dollars.

As a special feature, Christie’s also presented the Scholar’s Studio, which features artworks inspired by the literati tradition of ancient China.

After a stint in Beijing, the artworks will travel to other major cities across China, before arriving in Shanghai for Christie’s two flagship autumn auctions.