Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi are the most-valuable living Chinese artists, based on the auction prices of their works, shows a ranking by China-based Hurun Report, which also lists the nation’s richest people.

Works by Zhang, known for his somber, gray-hued paintings of Chinese families, fetched a combined $44.1 million at art auctions last year, followed by Yue’s $30.5 million and Zeng’s $30.1 million, according to Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s Shanghai- based publisher. Works by the top 50 artists on Hurun’s list sold a combined $410 million at auction last year. Artists on the list averaged 57.5 years of age.

“Chinese collectors had begun to take an interest in contemporary art, which was until then mostly of interest to foreigners,” said Hoogewerf, in an e-mail.

Chinese contemporary art is broadly defined as works produced since the 1960s, and usually feature reflections and commentaries on the decade-long Cultural Revolution that seared the psyche of a generation of mainland Chinese.

Hoogewerf said demand for Chinese contemporary art grew slightly last year. Auction prices for this category rose in the first half and languished after the latest -- and worst -- round of credit crisis broke out in September.

In May, the most-expensive Chinese contemporary painting was sold at auction for the $9.7 million paid for Zeng’s “Mask Series 1996 No. 6” at Christie’s International’s Hong Kong sale.

In Christie’s December auction, also in Hong Kong, an oil- on-canvas by the same artist, “Mao I: From the Masses, to the Masses” was called in because the last offer of HK$28 million ($3.6 million) didn’t meet the reserve price. At a London auction on June 29, the painting’s twin, “Chairman Mao II,” also dated 1993, fetched 2.17 million pounds ($3.1 million).

A survey released by London-based ArtTactic Ltd. earlier this month predicted Chinese contemporary-art prices may drop further in the next six months as the nation’s economic worries quell buying.

To contact the writer on the story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at lmlim@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 26, 2009 22:53 EST