May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Liu Xiaodong, who last month set mainland China's top auction contemporary-art price, failed to sell an oil painting at an auction in Beijing today, as the nation's worst natural disaster in three decades sapped interest.

Liu's 2001 ``Untitled,'' a profile of a partially clothed woman, secured a top bid of 500,000 yuan ($71,994) at Council International Auction Co.'s spring sale, below the reserve price. The Beijing-based auction house sold only 87 of 143 paintings offered, for a total of 46.5 million yuan, with 70 percent of the sales failing to reach the top estimate.

Council's auction was the first art sale since the government shut bars, cinemas and other entertainment outlets for three days to commemorate the 41,000 people estimated to have died in last week's earthquake. Buyers stayed away, forcing the auction house to allocate extra bidding time for the star lot, Wang Guangyi's 1992 ``Great Criticism - Marlboro,'' in an effort to draw a buyer.

``You really can't push the market,'' said Chinese Contemporary Factory's Alessandra Henderson. ``Prices didn't reach the astronomical levels as in the previous auctions.''

The May 12 earthquake, the country's deadliest in 32 years, destroyed 5.4 million homes and damaged another 21 million in three provinces in central China. Economic losses could reach 67 billion yuan, according to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who ordered newscasters to dress in funeral black for the three days of mourning.

Nudes Shunned

Paintings of nudes and beautiful women -- considered inappropriate during a period of sorrow -- went unsold. Bidding for Chen Yifei's 1987 ``Musician Series: Clarinet'' stopped at 6.8 million yuan, below the reserve. Chen's ``Woman In Front of Dresser'' and ``Beauty and Silk Fan'' also flopped. Nudes by He Duoling, Yang Feiyun, Liu Hong and Deng Jianjin failed to sell.

Even works of auction favorites Zhou Chunya and Liu Ye were unwanted. Liu's 2004 ``WHO,'' a rare watercolor of a classically dressed woman that departed from his usual repeated brushstrokes, went unsold at 170,000 yuan. Zhou's 1991 ``Black Stone, Black Horse,'' wasn't bought, while his 2007 ``Green Dog,'' 1997 ``Camellia'' and 1992 ``Black Lines, Red Figures'' all sold for less than their top estimates.

Wang's ``Great Criticism'' an oil that used motifs from China's Cultural Revolution propaganda posters as a critique of Western consumer brands, sold for an artist record of 9.8 million yuan. That was a shade over the low estimate, even after the auctioneer threw in an artist-autographed t-shirt bearing an image of the work.

Ouyang Record

Not everything was a flop. Sixteen paintings exceeded their top estimates. ``My Story,'' a 2006 painting by Ouyang Chun that's never been shown in a gallery, sold for an artist record of 700,000 yuan, almost triple the top estimate. His 2004 ``Light and Moth'' and 2006 ``Winter No. 3'' also beat Council's top estimates.

Han Yajuan, who typifies the generation of Chinese artists born after the late 1970s in using cartoon-like characters in their works, also set an artist record. ``Cow Nation Bobo life No. 3'' sold for 170,000 yuan, while her 2006 ``Go See Star Shower With You'' sold for 140,000 yuan.

Chinese Contemporary Factory's Henderson, who bought both of the Han oil paintings for a client, said her buyer liked the aesthetics and feel of China's young artists.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eugene Tang in Beijing on eugenetang@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 22, 2008 03:24 EDT