Hold on to your gifts, and another auction, the Guardian Autumn Auction, kicked off. The highest bids are expected to come either today or tomorrow, during the auction house's night auctions. A preview was held over the weekend at Beijing International Hotel earlier today.

Two of late painter Zhang Daqian's works are the centerpiece of the modern Chinese ink painting category. 

This piece "Water Moon Guanyin" was created in 1943 by Zhang when he was 44. He modeled this painting on a mural in Yulin Caves of Gansu Province. A Buddhist himself, the master created 52 works through three years of closely copying murals in Dunhuang and Yulin Caves in the 1940s. And this one has been hailed as the most significant. It masterfully balances quiet dignity with both luxuriant colors and ornamental detail.

Another work of Zhang, "Night Scene of the River Bank," is a copy of Tang-dynasty painter Dong Yuan's work. He bought the original work in 1946 and donated it to the Taipei Palace Museum before he died. This copy was created by Zhang shortly after he bought the original by Dong Yuan. 

There is also an ink piece called "Eagle," by later painter Qi Baishi. Highlights of the ancient Chinese painting category include a long scroll painting by Ming-dynasty painter Xu Wei. Each segment of the painting has a comment by Qing-dynasty emperor Qianlong, and a long scroll by another Ming-dynasty painter, Shen Zhou. All five works are featured at Monday night's auction.

Hu Yanyan, CEO of the Guardian Auction house, says, “Pieces of the highest quality are still the most sought after by collectors. These kinds of work have vibrantly grown in number in recent years. Although there are some common pieces which have attracted much less attention than before, it symbolizes our market is growing to be very healthy. Collectors are concerned more with the works' art value. They know art more.”

Previously Guardian only had one night auction dedicated to Chinese oil paintings. This time, there are three of them.

Guardian usually puts all of its most significant works into the night auctions, where the highest bids are always generated. This time around, Guardian is devoting three night auctions to oil paintings, indicating their confidence in this category. Many important oil pieces are up to be grabbed this week. 

The three nights of auctions for Chinese oil paintings fall into the categories of contemporary Chinese art, early Chinese oil paintings, and oil paintings collected by the Shao Li family. 

The most prominent one is a painting by the late painter Chen Yifei, of his old Shanghai series. The painting was crowned the most expensive Chinese oil painting when it was sold in a Hong Kong auction in 1993, the same year the painting was completed. On offer is also an oil painting by Zeng Fanzhi, belonging to his "mask" series. Chinese painters' earliest practices on oil canvas are also presented at this auction. Many oil pieces created in the 1940s are up for grabs this time.

Li Yanfeng, general manager of Guardian's 20th century and contemporary art department, says the number of oil paintings offered by collectors has grown greatly－80 more than in previous auctions.

He says, “The construction of Guardian's new building was completed recently. So we want to celebrate it with something special. This time around, the collectors have been very cooperative and have generously offered many important oil pieces. We have the strongest line-up for the oil painting category in our history. We have more than 200 oil pieces; previously we had about 150.”

We can see many among the viewers at the preview are not only collectors but also art lovers and ordinary folks. 

Collectors may be choosing their favorite piece. Others are simply appreciating a high-end exhibition－and maybe on their way to becoming collectors themselves.