ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Modern China Zhang Daqian < 1965 Mountains in China Alps
Chronology : 1940-1949 1947 1948 1965 1967 1968 1973 1982
See also : Modern China Zhang Daqian < 1965 Mountains in China Alps
Chronology : 1940-1949 1947 1948 1965 1967 1968 1973 1982
Intro
The Gobi desert was a major ordeal in the Silk Road. The city of Dunhuang was developed under the Han to offer the rest for travelers coming from the desert and courage and goods to those who were to enter it.
This particular situation has generated a very strong Buddhist spirituality. For a millennium, from the Wei to the Yuan, pilgrims have dug shrines into the cliff to worship Buddhism. 492 man-made caves have been counted, some of them no larger than a coffin. Away from the civilization centers, quite in the middle of the vast Asia, Dunhuang offers the most extraordinary testimony of ancient Buddhist sculpture and painting.
In modern times, Zhang Daqian permeates his art with the best Yuan, Ming and Qing pictorial traditions. This attitude will be vilified by Western observers after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
In 1941, Zhang decides to spend a few months studying the paintings of Dunhuang. Overwhelmed by the quality of the art of the ancients, he stayed two years and seven months. He copied therein on paper or silk 279 frescoes, on the site despite difficult climatic conditions.
In Dunhuang, Tang paintings are wonderful. Zhang admires the variety of the psychological expression attributed to the different personalities of the Buddhist pantheon, necessary to offer to the pious travelers all the subtlety of the message.
The 31-month scholar and artistic work of Zhang Daqian in the grottoes of Dunhuang, from 1941 to 1943, have not only helped the Chinese to appreciate their ancient pictorial heritage. Now enjoying a new vision across ages in addition to his flawless technique, Zhang became the best modern Chinese artist.
With their precise thin line drawing, the Tang figures are the best mural art in Dunhuang. After copying, Zhang began to imitate them.
A heroine named Hong Fu Nu from a novel evoking the Tang dynasty became his inspiration for the ideal woman. In 1944 Zhang performs a sumptuous portrait of this court woman in an elaborate costume, with bright colors on a background dotted with gold. The flexible expression of the woman is inspired by Ming style. This artwork, 125 x 75 cm including the subframe, was sold for RMB 71M by China Guardian on May 10, 2013.
This particular situation has generated a very strong Buddhist spirituality. For a millennium, from the Wei to the Yuan, pilgrims have dug shrines into the cliff to worship Buddhism. 492 man-made caves have been counted, some of them no larger than a coffin. Away from the civilization centers, quite in the middle of the vast Asia, Dunhuang offers the most extraordinary testimony of ancient Buddhist sculpture and painting.
In modern times, Zhang Daqian permeates his art with the best Yuan, Ming and Qing pictorial traditions. This attitude will be vilified by Western observers after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
In 1941, Zhang decides to spend a few months studying the paintings of Dunhuang. Overwhelmed by the quality of the art of the ancients, he stayed two years and seven months. He copied therein on paper or silk 279 frescoes, on the site despite difficult climatic conditions.
In Dunhuang, Tang paintings are wonderful. Zhang admires the variety of the psychological expression attributed to the different personalities of the Buddhist pantheon, necessary to offer to the pious travelers all the subtlety of the message.
The 31-month scholar and artistic work of Zhang Daqian in the grottoes of Dunhuang, from 1941 to 1943, have not only helped the Chinese to appreciate their ancient pictorial heritage. Now enjoying a new vision across ages in addition to his flawless technique, Zhang became the best modern Chinese artist.
With their precise thin line drawing, the Tang figures are the best mural art in Dunhuang. After copying, Zhang began to imitate them.
A heroine named Hong Fu Nu from a novel evoking the Tang dynasty became his inspiration for the ideal woman. In 1944 Zhang performs a sumptuous portrait of this court woman in an elaborate costume, with bright colors on a background dotted with gold. The flexible expression of the woman is inspired by Ming style. This artwork, 125 x 75 cm including the subframe, was sold for RMB 71M by China Guardian on May 10, 2013.
1947 Lotus and Mandarin Ducks
2011 SOLD for HK$ 190M by Sotheby's
The 31-month scholar and artistic work of Zhang Daqian in the grottoes of Dunhuang, from 1941 to 1943, have not only helped the Chinese to appreciate their ancient pictorial heritage. Now enjoying a new vision across ages in addition to his flawless technique, Zhang became a leading modern Chinese artist.
On November 27, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 59M from a lower estimate of HK$ 30M a scroll in ink and color on paper 165 x 82 cm painted in 1943 on the theme of the lotus, lot 1376.
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 by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 from a lower estimate of HK $ 15M, lot 4. Its composition is less legible : the birds partially hidden behind the stems no longer constitute a focusing point of the image.
On November 27, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 59M from a lower estimate of HK$ 30M a scroll in ink and color on paper 165 x 82 cm painted in 1943 on the theme of the lotus, lot 1376.
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 by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 from a lower estimate of HK $ 15M, lot 4. Its composition is less legible : the birds partially hidden behind the stems no longer constitute a focusing point of the image.
1948 Landscape after Wang Ximeng
2022 SOLD for HK$ 370M by Sotheby's
Zhang Daqian permeated his art with the best antique pictorial traditions, including the blue and green paintings from the Sui, Tang and Song. This practice was vilified by Western observers as plagiarism after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
A landscape of rivers and mountains after Wang Ximeng painted in January and February 1948 is a fair example of a transformation performed by Zhang while keeping the spirit and the style of an antique painting. It had not been shown in public since 1983.
Wang was a prodigy artist under the Northern Song dynasty who was taught and commissioned by the Huizong emperor himself. He died in 1119 CE at 23 years old. The unique artwork attributed to him is a handscroll 52 x 1200 cm painted in ink and blue and green colors on silk when he was not yet 18 years old. It is now kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
The work by Zhang was to transfer the significant elements of that masterpiece into a 134 x 73 cm hanging scroll of a similar technique. He did not keep the original composition, changing the multi point classical scenery into a modern perspective from a shore while preserving the vastness of the mountain range.
He led the perfection into even copying the seagulls and geese half hidden in the waves. Zhang's make is in fine line and exquisite color including gold flecks that shimmer in the sunlight. The distant mountains are colored in Mogu style.
Landscape after Wang Ximeng was sold for HK $ 370M by Sotheby's on April 30, 2022, lot 3073. Please watch the video shared by the auction house, providing a significant juxtaposition of elements of the antique and modern pictures.
A landscape of rivers and mountains after Wang Ximeng painted in January and February 1948 is a fair example of a transformation performed by Zhang while keeping the spirit and the style of an antique painting. It had not been shown in public since 1983.
Wang was a prodigy artist under the Northern Song dynasty who was taught and commissioned by the Huizong emperor himself. He died in 1119 CE at 23 years old. The unique artwork attributed to him is a handscroll 52 x 1200 cm painted in ink and blue and green colors on silk when he was not yet 18 years old. It is now kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
The work by Zhang was to transfer the significant elements of that masterpiece into a 134 x 73 cm hanging scroll of a similar technique. He did not keep the original composition, changing the multi point classical scenery into a modern perspective from a shore while preserving the vastness of the mountain range.
He led the perfection into even copying the seagulls and geese half hidden in the waves. Zhang's make is in fine line and exquisite color including gold flecks that shimmer in the sunlight. The distant mountains are colored in Mogu style.
Landscape after Wang Ximeng was sold for HK $ 370M by Sotheby's on April 30, 2022, lot 3073. Please watch the video shared by the auction house, providing a significant juxtaposition of elements of the antique and modern pictures.
later 1940s Copy of a Juran's Landscape
2016 SOLD for RMB 103M by China Guardian
Juran was a landscape painter in the 10th century CE at the court of the Southern Tang in Nanjing when they were overwhelmed by the Northern Song.
His 145 x 55 cm hanging scroll in ink on silk Storied Mountains and Dense Forests is kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
A replica made by Zhang Daqian in the later 1940s, ink and color on paper 170 x 85 cm, was sold for RMB 103M from a lower estimate of RMB 68M by China Guardian on November 12, 2016, lot 724. It is illustrated in the post sale release shared by China Daily.
His 145 x 55 cm hanging scroll in ink on silk Storied Mountains and Dense Forests is kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
A replica made by Zhang Daqian in the later 1940s, ink and color on paper 170 x 85 cm, was sold for RMB 103M from a lower estimate of RMB 68M by China Guardian on November 12, 2016, lot 724. It is illustrated in the post sale release shared by China Daily.
1965 Snowy Mountains in Switzerland
2016 SOLD for RMB 165M by Poly
Zhang Daqian began by being the best and most knowledgeable copyist of the Chinese graphic art from all periods. His moving to the vicinity of Sao Paulo in 1954 opens to him the landscapes of the world and the contact with the artistic avant-gardes. He meets Picasso in Antibes in 1956.
The mogu is a very old technique that was already practiced under the Tang, based on the observation that graphic figuration can be obtained by wash without a drawing. Zhang brings new ideas through the use of splashes in superimposed layers for creating rare colors. In 1965 he experiments his new technique now close to abstraction with varied themes : landscapes, lotus.
In Brazil or during his visits to the Swiss Alps, he discovers landscapes that do not exist in China. He expresses from memory this new sensory experience with a spontaneity of execution inspired by the Action Painting.
For these views, Zhang sometimes uses very large formats. On December 4, 2016, Poly sold as lot 2030 for RMB 165M an ink and colors on silk 173 x 344 cm on the theme of the Swiss snowy mountain.
This artwork realized in 1965 is one of the first of this new phase in the art of Zhang. The horizon reveals the mountain atmosphere with twin peaks licked by clouds but the foreground is a study of colors close to abstraction from where the drawing is absent.
The mogu is a very old technique that was already practiced under the Tang, based on the observation that graphic figuration can be obtained by wash without a drawing. Zhang brings new ideas through the use of splashes in superimposed layers for creating rare colors. In 1965 he experiments his new technique now close to abstraction with varied themes : landscapes, lotus.
In Brazil or during his visits to the Swiss Alps, he discovers landscapes that do not exist in China. He expresses from memory this new sensory experience with a spontaneity of execution inspired by the Action Painting.
For these views, Zhang sometimes uses very large formats. On December 4, 2016, Poly sold as lot 2030 for RMB 165M an ink and colors on silk 173 x 344 cm on the theme of the Swiss snowy mountain.
This artwork realized in 1965 is one of the first of this new phase in the art of Zhang. The horizon reveals the mountain atmosphere with twin peaks licked by clouds but the foreground is a study of colors close to abstraction from where the drawing is absent.
1967 Temple at the Mountain Peak
2021 SOLD for HK$ 210M by Christie's
Zhang Daqian found a quiet shelter when he moved to the vicinity of Sao Paolo. The cultural links with his home country were nevertheless broken. Even his frequent travels had to exclude the Continental China.
His lush Garden of the Eight Virtues is an attempt to maintain a spirit of Chinese contemplation in his exile in the attire of an elderly scholar. From bottom to upwards, he looks at the lake, the pavilions on the shore, the towering imaginary mountains layered with forest, and the sky. In these conditions this former traditionalist develops an unprecedented pictural style, although he indulges in stating Tang and Song influences.
Some new paintings evoke the ancient China by their title and by the insertion at the completion of the creative process of small scattered houses according to the traditional style of drawing.
Ancient Temples amidst Clouds, ink and colors on gold paper 172 x 90 cm painted in 1965, is typical of the new style. The mountain is an overlapping splash of saturated twilight green and blue while the other sections are neat drawings. The buildings scattered atop come from his imagination, symbolizing the link to heavens operated by the monks. This hanging scroll was sold for HK $ 102M by Christie's on May 30, 2017, lot 8001.
Temple at the Mountain Peak looks like a remake of Ancient Temples amidst Clouds. It was painted for the use of a friend in 1967 in the same techniques but smaller size, 128 x 63 cm. The valley is more detailed but the temples are half hidden and the resplendent sky has been canceled. The artist had it mounted with enameled knobs in cloisonné blue and white.
This piece was sold by Christie's for HK $ 61M on November 30, 2010, lot 2644, and for HK $ 210M on May 24, 2021, lot 22. The catalogue suggests an inspiration from a trip made in California a few months earlier. This statement may be questioned.
His lush Garden of the Eight Virtues is an attempt to maintain a spirit of Chinese contemplation in his exile in the attire of an elderly scholar. From bottom to upwards, he looks at the lake, the pavilions on the shore, the towering imaginary mountains layered with forest, and the sky. In these conditions this former traditionalist develops an unprecedented pictural style, although he indulges in stating Tang and Song influences.
Some new paintings evoke the ancient China by their title and by the insertion at the completion of the creative process of small scattered houses according to the traditional style of drawing.
Ancient Temples amidst Clouds, ink and colors on gold paper 172 x 90 cm painted in 1965, is typical of the new style. The mountain is an overlapping splash of saturated twilight green and blue while the other sections are neat drawings. The buildings scattered atop come from his imagination, symbolizing the link to heavens operated by the monks. This hanging scroll was sold for HK $ 102M by Christie's on May 30, 2017, lot 8001.
Temple at the Mountain Peak looks like a remake of Ancient Temples amidst Clouds. It was painted for the use of a friend in 1967 in the same techniques but smaller size, 128 x 63 cm. The valley is more detailed but the temples are half hidden and the resplendent sky has been canceled. The artist had it mounted with enameled knobs in cloisonné blue and white.
This piece was sold by Christie's for HK $ 61M on November 30, 2010, lot 2644, and for HK $ 210M on May 24, 2021, lot 22. The catalogue suggests an inspiration from a trip made in California a few months earlier. This statement may be questioned.
1967 Autumn Mountains in Twilight
2023 for sale on December 9 by Sotheby's
Mr and Mrs Kao Ling-mei assembled the Mei Yun Tang collection of works by Zhang Daqian. A selection of 25 works fetched HK $ 330M at Sotheby's on May 27, 2013, led by a Taoist Goddess made in 1955, sold for HK $ 74M, lot 7, and by An Invitation to Rusticate, a framed splashed ink on paper 67 x 188 cm made in 1966, sold for HK $ 72M, lot 24.
A keen traveller, Zhang expressed his impressions of the great landscapes on earth, sometimes many years later. The Invitation is based on Sao Paulo, near his residence, in the follow of the Swiss landscapes of 1965.
During the summer of 1967 the artist and his family visited California including the Yosemite. Autumn mountains in twilight, splashed and mingled colors on paper 174 x 104 cm painted in Brazil in September 1967, expresses in the warm red and gold colors of sunset the majestic verticality of the towering 900 m high El Capitan rock of the Yosemite, with accents of drifting white clouds. A comparison with the Autumn mountain at dusk by pre-Song artist Guan Tong also appealed Zhang.
Such rendering of an actual landscape parts from the near abstraction of the Swiss lake and precedes the 1969 view of the Yiwulu Mountains, sold for HK $ 163M by Sotheby's in 2019.
Autumn Mountains in Twilight was gifted by the artist to the late Mrs Kao and included in a large size portfolio published by Kao in Taiwan in 1968. It will be sold on December 9, 2023 by Sotheby's, lot 9 in the second selection of works from the late Kao's Mei Yun Tang collection.
A keen traveller, Zhang expressed his impressions of the great landscapes on earth, sometimes many years later. The Invitation is based on Sao Paulo, near his residence, in the follow of the Swiss landscapes of 1965.
During the summer of 1967 the artist and his family visited California including the Yosemite. Autumn mountains in twilight, splashed and mingled colors on paper 174 x 104 cm painted in Brazil in September 1967, expresses in the warm red and gold colors of sunset the majestic verticality of the towering 900 m high El Capitan rock of the Yosemite, with accents of drifting white clouds. A comparison with the Autumn mountain at dusk by pre-Song artist Guan Tong also appealed Zhang.
Such rendering of an actual landscape parts from the near abstraction of the Swiss lake and precedes the 1969 view of the Yiwulu Mountains, sold for HK $ 163M by Sotheby's in 2019.
Autumn Mountains in Twilight was gifted by the artist to the late Mrs Kao and included in a large size portfolio published by Kao in Taiwan in 1968. It will be sold on December 9, 2023 by Sotheby's, lot 9 in the second selection of works from the late Kao's Mei Yun Tang collection.
1968 Mist at Dawn
2021 SOLD for HK$ 215M by Sotheby's
Mist at dawn, splashed ink and color on paper 100 x 140 cm painted in Brazil in 1968, is a pinnacle of abstraction in the art of Zhang Daqian.
Zhang had been much impressed by the Swiss mountains and had a perfect memory of atmospheres and colors. He interprets here the extreme condition of high wind in the mist just before sunrise.
At first glance the result looks like a wandering of ochre flames in front of splashes of dark blue mingled with malachite green powder. By prolonging the inspection, the shape of the mountains and a cluster of clouds are revealed amidst the rare colors of a stormy dawn sky, at the moment when daylight comes out of a dark chaos.
This opus was sold for HK $ 215M by Sotheby's on October 11, 2021, lot 3065. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Zhang had been much impressed by the Swiss mountains and had a perfect memory of atmospheres and colors. He interprets here the extreme condition of high wind in the mist just before sunrise.
At first glance the result looks like a wandering of ochre flames in front of splashes of dark blue mingled with malachite green powder. By prolonging the inspection, the shape of the mountains and a cluster of clouds are revealed amidst the rare colors of a stormy dawn sky, at the moment when daylight comes out of a dark chaos.
This opus was sold for HK $ 215M by Sotheby's on October 11, 2021, lot 3065. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1968 Lake Achensee
2010 SOLD for RMB 100M by China Guardian
Zhang Daqian developed in the mid 1960s his new style of expressing the mountains in color splashes.
In the following years, he goes back to more figuration in a subtle blend of splash and line. A panoramic interpretation 264 x 76 cm of Lake Achensee made in 1968 in ink and colors on silk was sold for RMB 100M by China Guardian on May 17, 2010.
This explosion of expressionist colors was a work from memory, three years after a short sightseeing trip of the artist in Austria.
In the following years, he goes back to more figuration in a subtle blend of splash and line. A panoramic interpretation 264 x 76 cm of Lake Achensee made in 1968 in ink and colors on silk was sold for RMB 100M by China Guardian on May 17, 2010.
This explosion of expressionist colors was a work from memory, three years after a short sightseeing trip of the artist in Austria.
1969 Yiwulu Mountains
2019 SOLD for HK$ 163M by Sotheby's
Zhang Daqian had fled the Communist China. In his Garden of the Eight Virtues near Sao Paulo, he develops an art inspired both by Expressionism and by traditional Chinese graphic art. He travels and exhibits a lot during this period. In 1968 he is named honorary doctor by a college in Taiwan.
Also in 1968, Zhang leaves Brazil to relocate in California where he meets other exiles, including Zhang Xueliang's daughter with her husband.
Succeeding in 1928 to his father Zhang Zuolin murdered by the Japanese, Zhang Xueliang had been one of the most powerful warlords, operating from Manchuria and nicknamed the Young Marshal. Assigned to residency since 1936 for temporarily bringing Chiang Kai-shek to negotiate with the Communists against the Japanese, he was forced to follow in 1949 the exode of the Kuomintang to Taiwan.
Zhang Zuolin, the Old Marshal, was a poor peasant. The two "Marshals", father and son, loved to locate their origins in the Yiwulu Mountains, one of the most beautiful landscapes of Manchuria. Still stuck in Taiwan, Zhang Xueliang became a refined poet, connoisseur and collector. To inspire his friend Zhang Daqian, he composed a poetic essay on the ever green beauty of his beloved mountain.
On April 2, 2019, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 163M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M an imaginary view of the Yiwulu Mountains, splashed ink and colors on paper 101 x 196 cm painted in 1969 by Zhang Daqian and dedicated by him to the daughter and son-in-law of Zhang Xueliang, lot 1415.
In a style where a realistic illusion takes precedence over the abstraction that had dominated his landscapes in the previous years, this artwork can be compared with a view of non-located hills under the snows of spring, 68 x 138 cm, painted in the same year, sold for HK $ 42M by Christie's on November 28, 2017.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Also in 1968, Zhang leaves Brazil to relocate in California where he meets other exiles, including Zhang Xueliang's daughter with her husband.
Succeeding in 1928 to his father Zhang Zuolin murdered by the Japanese, Zhang Xueliang had been one of the most powerful warlords, operating from Manchuria and nicknamed the Young Marshal. Assigned to residency since 1936 for temporarily bringing Chiang Kai-shek to negotiate with the Communists against the Japanese, he was forced to follow in 1949 the exode of the Kuomintang to Taiwan.
Zhang Zuolin, the Old Marshal, was a poor peasant. The two "Marshals", father and son, loved to locate their origins in the Yiwulu Mountains, one of the most beautiful landscapes of Manchuria. Still stuck in Taiwan, Zhang Xueliang became a refined poet, connoisseur and collector. To inspire his friend Zhang Daqian, he composed a poetic essay on the ever green beauty of his beloved mountain.
On April 2, 2019, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 163M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M an imaginary view of the Yiwulu Mountains, splashed ink and colors on paper 101 x 196 cm painted in 1969 by Zhang Daqian and dedicated by him to the daughter and son-in-law of Zhang Xueliang, lot 1415.
In a style where a realistic illusion takes precedence over the abstraction that had dominated his landscapes in the previous years, this artwork can be compared with a view of non-located hills under the snows of spring, 68 x 138 cm, painted in the same year, sold for HK $ 42M by Christie's on November 28, 2017.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1973 Pink Lotuses on Gold Screen
2023 SOLD for HK$ 250M by Sotheby's
After a lifelong inspiration from the whole Chinese pictural history, Zhang Daqian started in the mid-1960s his unprecedented technique of application of splashed colors. In this breakthrough he also tried his skilled hand with the use of gold background.
Ancient Temples amidst Clouds, a scroll 172 x 90 cm painted in 1965 in ink and color on gold paper, was sold for HK $ 102M by Christie's on May 30, 2017, lot 8001. A smaller example from the same year is Autumn Foliage on Verdant Hills, 81 x 39 cm, sold for HK $ 8.8M by Christie's on May 29, 2022, lot 1099.
Painting on gold leaves is a costly and demanding technique. The smooth leaf does not absorb water or ink. Applying ink and color generates distinct traces on gold, so even the slightest mistake would have ruined the painting.
Zhang loved water flowers in his garden, like Monet, and often pictured blooming lotuses. Lotus and mandarin ducks, 185 x 95 cm scroll painted in 1947, was sold for HK $ 190M by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011.
In the splashed color period, Zhang painted three pictures of lotuses on gold leaf in Japanese screen formats. The first of them, in 1965, a diptych 158 x 140 cm overall, was made for the dowry of his fourth daughter.
Painted in 1973, Pink Lotuses is a very close replica of the earlier example, also with about half of the surface for the glowing raw gold background. This folding diptych 170 x 176 cm overall was sold for HK $ 250M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2023, lot 5004 consigned by the family of its first owner. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The third and last example, Crimson Lotuses, painted in 1975 in five panels of irregular width 170 x 370 cm overall, was sold by Sotheby’s for HK $ 20M in 2002.
Ancient Temples amidst Clouds, a scroll 172 x 90 cm painted in 1965 in ink and color on gold paper, was sold for HK $ 102M by Christie's on May 30, 2017, lot 8001. A smaller example from the same year is Autumn Foliage on Verdant Hills, 81 x 39 cm, sold for HK $ 8.8M by Christie's on May 29, 2022, lot 1099.
Painting on gold leaves is a costly and demanding technique. The smooth leaf does not absorb water or ink. Applying ink and color generates distinct traces on gold, so even the slightest mistake would have ruined the painting.
Zhang loved water flowers in his garden, like Monet, and often pictured blooming lotuses. Lotus and mandarin ducks, 185 x 95 cm scroll painted in 1947, was sold for HK $ 190M by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011.
In the splashed color period, Zhang painted three pictures of lotuses on gold leaf in Japanese screen formats. The first of them, in 1965, a diptych 158 x 140 cm overall, was made for the dowry of his fourth daughter.
Painted in 1973, Pink Lotuses is a very close replica of the earlier example, also with about half of the surface for the glowing raw gold background. This folding diptych 170 x 176 cm overall was sold for HK $ 250M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2023, lot 5004 consigned by the family of its first owner. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The third and last example, Crimson Lotuses, painted in 1975 in five panels of irregular width 170 x 370 cm overall, was sold by Sotheby’s for HK $ 20M in 2002.
1982 Peach Blossom Spring
2016 SOLD for HK$ 270M by Sotheby's
Zhang Daqian was the most skilled artist of all time, able to imitate and copy up to perfection the great Chinese masters of all dynasties and to develop new techniques of his own. Splashing his paper with layers of transparent paint, he renews the expression of landscapes without reaching abstraction, with hues in perfectly controlled gradients.
Zhang returned to Asia in 1976. He however sees that urbanization is threatening the tranquility of his residence in Taiwan. He reacts as a poet. Made in 1982, Peach blossom spring exposes his grandiose dream of a paradise that can no longer exist. According to the Chinese artistic tradition, he inserts a poem explaining his quest for bliss.
This artwork combining drawing and splash is somehow his artistic legacy in the form of a hanging scroll of very large size 209 x 92 cm. The dream realized with a malachite green pigment is a column of progressive splashes reaching a sumptuous intensity in the top of the image. It is indeed the culmination of Zhang's signature mingles of abstract colors and detailed drawings.
This magnificent burst of color removes up to the edges of the picture a landscape in sharp lines but without details excepted the little boat of a fisherman. At the bottom of the blue green column, the border with the real world is provided by a row of peach trees undertaking to grow their flowering branches upward into the dreamlike sky.
His use of increasingly expressive colors explains the considerable interest of the old master in the art of Zao Wou-ki. Their meeting, highly significant for appreciating the evolution of modern Chinese painting, took place in the following year a few weeks before the death of Zhang.
Peach blossom spring was sold for HK $ 270M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2016, lot 1273.
Zhang returned to Asia in 1976. He however sees that urbanization is threatening the tranquility of his residence in Taiwan. He reacts as a poet. Made in 1982, Peach blossom spring exposes his grandiose dream of a paradise that can no longer exist. According to the Chinese artistic tradition, he inserts a poem explaining his quest for bliss.
This artwork combining drawing and splash is somehow his artistic legacy in the form of a hanging scroll of very large size 209 x 92 cm. The dream realized with a malachite green pigment is a column of progressive splashes reaching a sumptuous intensity in the top of the image. It is indeed the culmination of Zhang's signature mingles of abstract colors and detailed drawings.
This magnificent burst of color removes up to the edges of the picture a landscape in sharp lines but without details excepted the little boat of a fisherman. At the bottom of the blue green column, the border with the real world is provided by a row of peach trees undertaking to grow their flowering branches upward into the dreamlike sky.
His use of increasingly expressive colors explains the considerable interest of the old master in the art of Zao Wou-ki. Their meeting, highly significant for appreciating the evolution of modern Chinese painting, took place in the following year a few weeks before the death of Zhang.
Peach blossom spring was sold for HK $ 270M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2016, lot 1273.
