He sold the painting to Hong Kong art dealer Manfred Schoeni for $5,000.

[2] Trevor Simon, an investment banker, stumbled across the painting in 1996 in the back of a Hong Kong gallery.

[2] The art piece was billed by Sotheby's as "Among the most historically important paintings of the Chinese avant-garde ever to appear at auction.

"[2] Simon called Yue a brave man for painting something so politically dangerous.

[1] The artist, Yue, denies that his paintings are a veiled criticism of his government or of Chinese society, and he does not believe his work will bring him trouble.