Scholar and Attendant

Details

ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)
Scholar and Attendant
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
101 x 39 cm. (39 3⁄4 x 15 3⁄8 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with four seals of the artist
Dated fourth month, guiyou year (1933)
Dedicated to Mengli

Further Details

The present collection includes six works from Zhang Daqian’s early career. The collector’s family was in business in Shanghai in the 1930s and the 1940s and purchased paintings to protect themselves against inflation and political instability. They brought the collection with them to Hong Kong in 1949 and kept it intact for over half a century. The highlights include a group of early Zhang Daqian figures and landscape paintings dating from the 1930s to the 1940s.
As a diligent and thoughtful young artist, Zhang Daqian dedicated his youth to emulating works by ancient masters such as Shitao and Bada Shanren whilst travelling to visit the famed mountains and landscapes to seek artistic inspiration. Zhang often paid tribute to the masters he so revered - in Portrait of Sun Chuo (Lot 1108), he sought inspiration from the tales of the Northern and Southern dynasties and the calligraphy of Shitao; in Scholar and Attendant (Lot 1109), he painted in the style of Hua Yan. Some of the landscapes are sketches from Zhang’s travels, including Landscape in the Style of Zhao Mengfu (Lot 1107), which Zhang attributed to the famed work Autumn Colours on the Qiao and Hua Mountains by the Yuan dynasty artistic giant.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Carmen Shek Cerne (石嘉雯) Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Paintings

cshek@christies.com +852 2978 9981

Lot Essay

The recipient of the painting was Xie Mengli, master of Linhui Caotang, who came from Zhenhai, Zhejiang province. Xie funded the Chinese Female Paintings and Calligraphy Club and was acquainted with Zhang Daqian and other artists based in hanghai. Xie owned a substantial collection of works and compiled The Collection of Modern Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy of Linhui Caotang.

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