China’s authorities have issued a notification, stating that a working group will be set up to investigate the controversy surrounding the loss of ancient paintings from the collection of the Nanjing Museum.
On Tuesday (December 23), China Central Television News cited information from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, announcing that a working group had been formed to carry out verifications regarding matters related to cultural relics management at the Nanjing Museum.
A Ming Dynasty painting, 'Spring in the South of the Yangtze' scroll by Qiu Ying—part of a donation by descendants of modern-era collector Pang Laichen to the Nanjing Museum (referred to as 'Nanbo')—recently appeared in an art auction preview, with an estimated value of 88 million yuan (51.04 million ringgit), sparking public concern over how Nanbo handles its collection of ancient paintings.
Nanbo responded that out of the 137 collectible paintings donated by Pang Laichen’s descendants, five were identified as counterfeits by experts in the 1960s. In the 1990s, in accordance with the ‘Museum Collection Management Measures’, these five paintings were disposed of by the museum.
The incident was reignited on Monday (22nd) when a man claiming to be a retired Nanbo employee stated that he had filed a real-name report against former director Xu Huping, but had yet to receive any effective response.
Regarding the 'Nanbo incident', honorary director of Nanjing Museum Gong Liang told China Newsweek, "I have nothing to say about this, sorry."
On Tuesday (December 23), China Central Television News cited information from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, announcing that a working group had been formed to carry out verifications regarding matters related to cultural relics management at the Nanjing Museum.
A Ming Dynasty painting, 'Spring in the South of the Yangtze' scroll by Qiu Ying—part of a donation by descendants of modern-era collector Pang Laichen to the Nanjing Museum (referred to as 'Nanbo')—recently appeared in an art auction preview, with an estimated value of 88 million yuan (51.04 million ringgit), sparking public concern over how Nanbo handles its collection of ancient paintings.
The incident was reignited on Monday (22nd) when a man claiming to be a retired Nanbo employee stated that he had filed a real-name report against former director Xu Huping, but had yet to receive any effective response.
Regarding the 'Nanbo incident', honorary director of Nanjing Museum Gong Liang told China Newsweek, "I have nothing to say about this, sorry."