Two reporters anticipating next week’s Impressionist and Modern auctions are beginning to revolve around the interests of Chinese art collectors:

Mainland Chinese buyers are expected to play a major part in the Impressionist and modern art sales, according to auction house specialists. The region’s wealthy collectors are expanding their international holdings.

Colin Gleadell is more specific about which lots Chinese Buyers are most likely to pursue:

The modern sales are founded on deceased estate properties. At Christie’s, for instance, some of the top lots have come from the heirs of German collectors Viktor and Marianne Langen, including a wartime Picasso portrait of his mistress, Dora Maar, at $25 million. Another Picasso is a sensuous portrait of his young lover in the Thirties, Marie-Thérèse Walter. This has come from the family of the late shipping billionaire Sammy Ofer, who bought it in 1997 for $3.1 million, and it is now estimated at $8 to $12 million. A classic Monet water lily painting, also estimated at $25 million, is from the Clark Family collection, one of the old family dynasties whose fortune was built in the 19th century. These, and three ravishing Renoirs, are all likely to be of interest to the new breed of Chinese collector.

Art Buyer ‘Gladiator Fights’ Lift Targets to $2.3 Billion (Bloomberg)

Art Sales: Monet or Popeye, yours for $25m (Telegraph)