Buddhist nun stops sale of £1million painting The 1950 painting, "Riding in the Autumn Countryside" by Zhang Daqian, was expected to fetch up to £1illion at today's fine Chinese paintings sale, where 325 art works valued at up to £13 million will go under the hammer. Lu said Zhang - the world's number one artist ranked by auction revenue, according to France-based data provider Artprice - gave the painting to her late father, who was a close friend of the painter, in the 1950s. Lu said the painting was given to her as a wedding gift, but when she became a Buddhist nun she passed it on to her brother. The Post reported that Lu's brother had entrusted the painting to an employee for safe-keeping but was unable to retrieve it. Lu reportedly contacted Taiwanese police in September when she saw the painting featured in a Sotheby's advertisement. Sotheby's recorded $15.5 million for its modern and contemporary Southeast Asian painting sale on Sunday, more than double its estimates. The top lot was a painting by Indonesian artist Lee Man Fong which sold for $4.4 million. Zhang was one of the best known Chinese artists of the 20th century whose works raked in $550 million in auction revenue last year, overtaking Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso in the rankings, according to Artprice. Follow Telegraph Art on Twitter