Chinese business tycoon Jack Ma runs the world largest e-commerce companies Alibaba and Taobao. Ma engages in quite a few undertakings on the side. One of them, painting, has recently drawn criticism.

Ma's first oil painting Paradise went on auction at Sotheby's earlier this month. This piece, painted on a rare round canvas depicting Earth, was co-painted by Ma and Zeng Fanzhi, an established artist. It was sold for 42.2 million Hong Kong dollars ($5.4 million), 17 times more than estimated by the auction house. The money will be donated to a foundation dedicated to environmental protection after the auction.

This raised a debate. The bone of contention is how a (dubious) painter's debut work is worth so much money, and whether Ma's unexpected involvement in the art world as a profit-reaping businessman is a "blasphemy" to art.

Thinking of Ma holding brushes, his every stroke worth a fortune, has probably irritated some hard-working but unknown artists. Selective art critics also mock Ma's immature painting skill and indecipherable calligraphy as not even close to amateurship.

Lin Zhenglu, a "philosopher, economist and artist" according to Baidu Baike, a Chinese language encyclopedia, even wrote an open letter to Ma on Asian Newsweek, saying Ma is "using his influence and wealth to wantonly tramp on art and the artistic ecology."

Perhaps these apologist artists didn't find the fact that Ma had donated all the money to charity important. However, bluenoses only care about the side effects of his charitable act, fearing business tycoons are going to distort the nature of the art market.

Like his name implies, Ma is really a Jack-of-all-trades. Obsessed with wuxia, a martial arts-related genre of Chinese fiction, he is a big fan of tai chi, and practices it with an air of professionalism.

Taking cues from Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Ma is a committed philanthropist, dedicating time and funds to environmental protection and poverty alleviation. His entry in the art market is believed to be driven by anything but an ambition to be an artist. Art is more of a channel to achieve something else than a purpose for its own sake, for a businessman like him.

Rife with subjectivity and profiteering, the nature of the art market is far from rational and pure. There is no recognized gauge to evaluate the quality of an art work, and economic principles don't usually work. Popularity, media hype and critical acclaim matter a lot, even more than the real attainments of an artist. Professionals in the art world should accept the cruel reality that some lucky dogs, by taking advantage of an opportunity, will probably skyrocket to success.

Accusations of Ma "distorting" the art market are not very convincing, given the fact that Ma doesn't do this for wealth but for charity, and his dipping into the art market is hardly intensive. It will be a relief for both sides if moralists of the art world can show some leniency and tolerance to Ma's "leisure activity" of wielding brushes. Let the artists lead the way in real art, and let Ma, a responsible entrepreneur, bring benefits to mankind in the name of art.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. liuzhun@globaltimes.com.cn