Guy Ullens, who is known for his collection of contemporary Chinese art, is to give up his eponymous Beijing gallery.[Photo provided to China Daily]

 Ullens, who is known as a "patron of the arts in China for more than 30 years", constantly traveled to the country in the 1980s for family business in sugar and other food-related trades. He has assembled a number of Chinese artworks, the larger part being the contemporary pieces of leading artists such as Gu Wenda, Wang Guangyi and Zhang Xiaogang.

UCCA, a nonprofit that he funds through the Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation, encompasses three factory buildings of the 1950s. It has received some 4 million visitors since the opening. News of Ullens' intention to sell UCCA has emerged since 2009, amid speculation that his family business was affected by the financial crisis beginning in the United States in 2008.

He cashed in by selling collected art in bulk at auctions: a Beijing sale of his collection of classical Chinese paintings in 2009 grossed 288 million yuan ($43.64 million); he sold an oil painting of Zhang Xiaogang for HK$79 million ($9 million) in 2011; and a Zeng Fan-zhi canvas for HK$180 million in 2013.

At the time Ullens denied he would also sell UCCA, explaining that he sold his collection because his age prohibited him from frequent travels to China and his children showed little interest in art. And now, the news of his likely renouncement of UCCA isn't a surprise in Chinese art circles.