CHINESE painter Han Min's work has been increasing in price at auctions recently, reaching a remarkable level for a contemporary artist.

Born in 1929, Han worked as a strip cartoon artist for the Shanghai Art Publishing House for decades. One of his important works is "The White Haired Girl", the story of a poverty-stricken young woman forced to live alone in the mountains.

This experience laid a solid foundation for his artistic creativity in sketches, painting and sculpture.

His collection of paintings, "12 Beauties of Jinling", (characters from "A Dream of Red Mansions") achieved the high price of 125,000 yuan (US$15,060) in a recent auction.

Han went through painful changes in turning to Chinese painting. He put great efforts into capturing the slightest nuances of waterink on rice paper.

Han puts great emphasis on absorbing traditional painting techniques and is expert at portraying beautiful Chinese women and depicting flowers and plants.

Han also believes that improving one's knowledge of culture can lead to deeper insights and novel creative directions. As an artist, he reads widely, because Chinese painting is closely related to Chinese culture and literature and painting was often adopted by poets as a new way in which to express themselves.

Huangjie Gallery is presenting Han Min's latest series of works at the Shanghai Art Fair, starting this weekend.