Lot Essay
This work is also published in Jujiang & Zuyin: Collection of Bai Juan Lou.
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Temple on the Mountains
Details
ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)
Temple on the Mountains
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
34 x 51 cm. (13 3/8 x 20 1/8 in.)
Signed, with one seal of the artist and one dated seal of guichou year (1973)
Temple on the Mountains
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
34 x 51 cm. (13 3/8 x 20 1/8 in.)
Signed, with one seal of the artist and one dated seal of guichou year (1973)
Literature
The Paintings and Calligraphy of Chang Dai-Chien vol. 7, National Museum of History, Taipei, October 1983, p.94.
Further Details
In 1954, Zhang Daqian settled in Mogi das Cruzes near São Paolo in Brazil after travelling the world from India to Argentina. There, he built an extravagant, lush traditional Chinese garden which he named the Garden of Eight Virtues, and within it the Lake of Five Pavilions. At this time, Zhang began to experiment with splashed-ink as a technique: the exposure to new cultures and geographies greatly inspired him. His use of colours became more remarkable and diverse and led to his creations exuding an air of magnificence and monumentality. The technique of “accumulating ink and colour” was in part derived from the Tang dynasty model of splashing ink on silk and spreading it into shapes. Undoubtedly, his exposure to different cultures and artistic styles during the course of his travels greatly inspired and influenced to his influences in his own creative quest and it was around this time his splashed-ink paintings developed into the technique that is highly revered today.
It was in the Lake of Five Pavilions that the artist painted this work by layering the accumulation of ink and colour across the composition, and constructed an atmospherically ethereal world depicting a beautiful scenery. Above the swathes of luminous ink forming the shapes of the mountains and peaks, the artist splashes vibrant green and blue pigments depicting the verdant vegetation. Executed in 1967, the artist no longer seeks for true abstraction of his earlier splash ink and splash colour landscapes. Instead he complements the densely coloured mountain and peaks with cottages and trees using expressive brush strokes more widely seen in the artist’s traditional works. In the inscription, Zhang writes, “Recently (I) use the technique of Dong Yuan and Juran to create this splashed-ink painting, Brother Chiliang, what do you think?” The reference to Dong Yuan and Juran is to the use of the darker colour hemp-fiber brush stroke on the painting against the light colour wash of the mountain, a return to the artist’s tradition of imitating ancient painting masters. This painting not only depicts the splash colour landscape of the artist in its mature state, it also represents further development of this subject through linking the technique to his traditional roots.
It was in the Lake of Five Pavilions that the artist painted this work by layering the accumulation of ink and colour across the composition, and constructed an atmospherically ethereal world depicting a beautiful scenery. Above the swathes of luminous ink forming the shapes of the mountains and peaks, the artist splashes vibrant green and blue pigments depicting the verdant vegetation. Executed in 1967, the artist no longer seeks for true abstraction of his earlier splash ink and splash colour landscapes. Instead he complements the densely coloured mountain and peaks with cottages and trees using expressive brush strokes more widely seen in the artist’s traditional works. In the inscription, Zhang writes, “Recently (I) use the technique of Dong Yuan and Juran to create this splashed-ink painting, Brother Chiliang, what do you think?” The reference to Dong Yuan and Juran is to the use of the darker colour hemp-fiber brush stroke on the painting against the light colour wash of the mountain, a return to the artist’s tradition of imitating ancient painting masters. This painting not only depicts the splash colour landscape of the artist in its mature state, it also represents further development of this subject through linking the technique to his traditional roots.
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