PARIS (AFP) - A still-life by Chinese artist Sanyu sold for a record 8.8 million euros (S$14 million) in Paris on Monday, an auction house said.

The oil painting of a pot of flowers set a new European record for the artist, who died in 1966, having spent most of his life in the French capital.

The canvas was painted in 1930 and lost for decades before reappearing in the 1970s near Paris.

Born Chang Yu in Nanchong in 1901, Sanyu was talent-spotted by renowned dealer Henri-Pierre Roche, who also championed Picasso, Brancusi and Man Ray.

He bought 111 of his paintings, nearly a third of Sanyu's total output, but the artist never attained the fame of his peers during his lifetime.

The Aguttes auction house, which handled the sale, also sold two canvasses by the artist in 2015 for 4.08 million euros each, then a record for the painter.