The Xinhua News Service thinks the Brody Picasso was bought by a Chinese citizen but they can’t decide on the impact Chinese buyers are having on the art market:

Ken Yeh, chairman of Christie’s Asia in Hong Kong, said China’s billionaire art buyers are creating something of an electric atmosphere in the art world. “I think the potential for Western art in China is huge, just massive. There have been a very few Chinese people buying impressionist modern paintings since 2004 and 2005 but suddenly, since last year, there has been almost a surge,” he said.

The auction house head believes this surge has been created by up to 20 Chinese buyers who have suddenly embarked on a mission to buy Western art. “The Chinese mainland buyers have only just started buying impressionist works so there is a lot of potential for this to go a lot further than it already has,” he said.

[…] But Ben Brown, who owns Ben Brown Fine Art, which runs major galleries in both Hong Kong and London, believes there is too much hype about the recent activity of Chinese buyers.

“I think there may actually be more of a market right now for major works in the Flemish part of Belgium than in the whole of China. I think mainland buying of significant Western art is a long way off,” he said.

Chinese Take Art Market by Storm (Xinhua)