Katya Kazakina has a mini-profile of Zhang Xiaogang on the occasion of his Pace Gallery show and the eve of Sotheby’s Hong Kong sales cycle. Although he holds the title for the most valuable work of Chinese Contemporary art by a living artist (though abstract painter Zao Wou-Ki has racked up much higher prices,) the work buyers most want is from another era:

“Every morning I wake up between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., have a cup of coffee, read the news and head to the studio,” says artist Zhang Xiaogang, “where I stay until 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.” […] “Since 2006, I am trying to move forward as an artist,” said Zhang, 56, through a translator during an interview at Pace. “But whenever people come to my studio, they always ask about the work I did 20 years ago.”

China’s $10 Million Artist Pursues Spartan Life in NYC (Bloomberg)