Auction catalogues reveal the fine art of corruption

Valuable paintings, jade bracelet and luxury watches among former police chief’s stash

A painting of Hong Kong’s skyline by one of China’s best-known contemporary artists, a green jade bracelet with a price tag of 1.6 million yuan (HK$1.8 million) and at least 45 luxury watches – including five Patek Philippes – were among a toppled official’s lavish collection of ill-gotten gains revealed by mainland media.

Together, the property, artworks, jewellery and cash that was once illegally in the hands of former Tianjin (天津) police chief Wu Changshun was worth a cool 426 million yuan. That makes Wu one of the fattest “tigers” netted in President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) anti-corruption campaign. An angry Xi has described Wu as “defying all laws human and divine”, according to state media.

Following his dismissal from office in 2014 and a subsequent investigation, a court sentenced Wu to death with a two-year reprieve – a sentence that usually turns to life imprisonment when the two years expire.

Wu’s illegal gains – including more than 1,000 artworks, antiques and items of jewellery – were auctioned off over the past two years, according to a report by Caixin, which obtained the booklets for the auctions.

Wu’s collection was so vast that a Tianjin auction house held three separate auctions to sell it all, between November 2015 and December last year, the report said.

Among the paintings and works of calligraphy confiscated from Wu is In Memory of Hong Kong, painted in 1991 by Wu Guanzhong , a founder of modern

Chinese art who died in 2010. The painting, which depicts the skyline of Hong Kong’s central business district at Victoria Harbour, had yet to be appraised in the auction booklet so did not have a floor price. But it sold for 2.6 million yuan in 2008 at a public sale held by Poly Auction, according to the auction house’s records.

Other famous works Wu owned included a calligraphy piece by Zhang Daqian (張大千), one of China’s best-known – and best-selling – 20th-century artists. A painting by Zhang entitled Copy of Juran’s Landscape drew the highest bid at China Guardian’s autumn auction last year, fetching 103.5 million yuan.

Wu owned 11 paintings by Fan Zeng, a master of traditional Chinese painting and another big seller. One Fan piece from Wu’s collection had a floor price of 3.5 million yuan, according to Caixin.

The hundreds of antiques in Wu’s collection included a blue and white 15th-century porcelain container from the Ming dynasty, Buddha statues, green jade bracelets and ornaments.

Wu also owned at least 45 luxury watches, including brands such as Cartier, Rolex, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe.