Palace Museum Publishes Lifetime Work of Top Art Appraiser

Notes written by late master appraiser of art pieces Liu Jiu'an (1915-1999) was published by the Palace Museum in Beijing. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

A lifetime note written by a late master appraiser of art pieces was published by the Palace Museum in Beijing, according to a news conference at the museum on Thursday.

Liu Jiu'an (1915-1999), once a researcher at the Palace Museum, is generally considered as one of the country's best appraiser of ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphic works in the 20th century.

Working in the industry for nearly seven decades, he once appraised 60,000 works in over 200 institutions nationwide. He also donated more than 100 antique paintings and calligraphies in his personal collection to the museum.

From 1956 to 1997, he continuously kept notes, diaries, logs, and collection of files on appraisal of artworks, which totaled up to over 3 million characters in 273 copies and thus became a huge legacy for the related work benefiting the country.

These precious handwritten files were categorized and published in photocopies this time. According to the plan of the museum, highlights in the notes plus other scholars' comments will be published in the future following in-depth research.