On November 27 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells a scroll in ink and color on paper 165 x 82 cm painted in 1943, lot 1376 estimated HK $ 30M, on the theme of the lotus.
With its bright red flowers outlined in gold, this artwork is mostly a study of colors. In a bold but balanced composition, another theme appears without seeking a coherence of scales : a small pair of mandarin ducks lying in the background gives the plants a tree-like height. These birds are a symbol of conjugal fidelity.
This double theme of lotus and ducks is very rare in Zhang's art. A 185 x 95 cm scroll painted in 1947 coming from the Mei Yun Tang collection was sold for HK $ 190M including premium by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 over a lower estimate of HK $ 15M. Its composition is less legible : the ducks partially hidden behind the stems no longer constitute a focal point of the image.
With a comparable chromatic balance but also including white lotus flowers, a set of four scrolls made in 1947, 154 x 78 cm each, was sold for HK $ 80M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2013. In this group of works the ducks did not come.
SOLD for HK$ 59M including premium