Chinese art is hot at the moment. Last month, a record price was reached in London for the work 'Execution' painted in the aftermath of the bloody suppression of students in Tiananmen Square. The painting, by Beijing-based artist Yue Minjun sold for nearly $US6 million. But what's driving this boom and is it sustainable?

Well, not necessarily, according to one leading Chinese art critic. Professor Gao Minglu says the current buzz surrounding Chinese art could also have a negative impact of creative stagnation. China correspondent Charlotte Glennie reports.

Charlotte Glennie, China correspondent: This is the world's most expensive modern Chinese artwork.

'Execution' was sold by Sotheby's in London and, in Beijing, its creator seems almost blasé about its US$6 million price tag.

Yue Minjun, Chinese artist (translation): It's not a big deal. I always try to stay on the course of creating art and not to get distracted by anything else.

Charlotte Glennie: Yue Minjun is considered a world leader in the Chinese style of painting labelled 'cynical realism'. It's an art movement, which grew out of the confusion which followed the brutal 1989 military crushing of students in Tiananmen Square.

Yue Minjun's signature laughing faces are all self-portraits. The artist says his wide smiles often mask fear and terror. His works reflect the effect of massive recent changes in Chinese society.

Yue Minjun (translation): In the past, there were few channels where I could obtain information that could help me to understand the world. Now there are many more, and my scope of thinking has been expanded tremendously. I think such change is very important to me.

Charlotte Glennie: 'Execution' was painted in the aftermath of the Tiananmen crackdown and, in 1995, Yue Minjun sold it to a Hong Kong art dealer for a few thousand dollars. Its content was considered so sensitive that the dealer on-sold it, only on the condition that the painting was kept out of sight for five years.

Yue Minjun (translation): People usually choose violence as a solution when dealing with conflict or a difference in views. I feel this shows people are immature, in terms of handling those things, and the immaturity is on both sides of the conflict.

Charlotte Glennie: Chinese art is red hot. Prices are soaring at auctions around the world.

Evelyn Lin, Sotheby's, Hong Kong: New records had been set over the last few years, so many experienced collectors started to want to release their major collections on the market. This includes many artists' early stages of work and that's a major reason records are now being made.

Charlotte Glennie: Yue Minjun is still producing the same trademark faces he began painting nearly 20 years ago. Some art critics say that's a problem.

Gao Minglu has always been controversial. In early 1989, he curated a ground-breaking avant-garde exhibition in Beijing which was twice shut down by police.

He was closely linked to student artists involved in the Tiananmen crackdown, and after the blood shed on June the fourth, he was removed from his job and forced to study Marxism.

He moved to the United States, where he's been an academic and art curator ever since. But he's now back in Beijing on sabbatical and he says, while Chinese society has changed radically, a lot of the art hasn't kept up.

”It's very difficult for young artists to develop their own idea.” Gao Minglu

Gao Minglu, art critic and creator: It's very difficult for young artists to develop their own idea, concept, and their own style, but rather they always influenced, you know, by the fashionable style from the market.

Charlotte Glennie: Foreigners have been the main collectors of Chinese contemporary art until recently, when some wealthy Chinese businessmen also started investing in it. Professor Gao says the high prices being paid are fuelling a phenomenon whereby international buyers are imposing their own taste on local artists.

New galleries are opening all the time in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Some do display works with political overtones, and artists do still face government restrictions.

Sheng Oi, Beijing artist (translation): For example, Mao Zedong's portrait - you can't paint it any way you like. You can't paint the Gate of Heavenly Peace any way you like. You should paint them as carefully as you can, and try to paint them as similar as possible to the originals.

Charlotte Glennie: But even art like this doesn't satisfy Gao Minglu. He says Chinese art no longer serves society, like it did in the 80s when artists were committed to political and social reform.

At Beijing's new Today Art Museum, some of China's most experimental artists are displaying their works - a number of them for the first time. But the newly opened museum is having a hard time getting ordinary Chinese people to appreciate the art, let alone understand it.

Ji Peng Cheng, Today Art Museum (translation): When people came here, some of them threw their own rubbish onto the grass. They didn't know it was a piece of art.

”Contemporary art hasn't had a long existence in China.” Nan Nan

Nan Nan, Today Art Museum (translation): First, contemporary art hasn't had a long existence in China. Second, we Chinese tend to receive education in classical art from a young age so we have little chance to get to know contemporary art.

Charlotte Glennie: But there's no shortage of people paying attention to Yue Minjun's work. Today, a group of Germans is visiting his studio, from Hannover's prestigious Sprengel Museum.

There's more on display than just Yue Minjun's so-called 'big head' works. He's also re-created historical Chinese paintings, but to get his audience thinking, he's deliberately removed the figures. Then there's this giant artwork featuring the cut-out faces of Chinese celebrities.

And he's recently completed a series of maze works exploring the themes of religion and terrorism.

Yue Minjun (translation): In the current market, I feel there is too much commercial concern involved. I feel that living in a commercial world sometimes can change a person's mind, and that's scary.

Charlotte Glennie: Gao Minglu says he dreams of the day when Chinese art becomes seriously challenging again.

Gao Minglu: I believe that some artists they will do something to criticise the authority, the corrupt society.

Charlotte Glennie: But being too critical in China can still land artists in trouble. And commercialism is also a key part of modern Chinese society and a lot of today's art reflects this.

Most people are only just beginning to discover Chinese contemporary art. There's no sign of any heat going out of the Chinese art boom anytime soon.

Edmund Roy: China correspondent Charlotte Glennie with that report.