Oil painter Zhou Chunya's Spring is Coming was sold for 86.25 million yuan ($12.45 million) on Tuesday at a Beijing auction, setting a record price for the artist.

The Chengdu-based artist's Spring is Coming is a landmark piece of his Tibetan series painted in 1984, which earned him great fame because it focused on images of ordinary people instead of heroes of the time, a common subject for oil painters in the 1980s in China.

The artwork was bought by Zhou's friend, a German collector who was then teaching in Chengdu in 1985. It marked the first time the work was sold at an auction house.

Regarded as a leading oil painter in Chinese contemporary art, Zhou is known for his Green Dog series and Blossom series, both of which are vibrant in color.

Zhou's record work was sold at China Guardian Auctions' contemporary art sale in Beijing, which fetched about 231 million yuan, and at a good price that exceeded expectations during the hard times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Li Yifeng, general manager of the 20th Century and Contemporary Art department of China Guardian Auctions.