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Lot Essay
Two Perfect Pairs – The First and Second Ode to Red Cliff by Zhang Daqian
The Ode to Red Cliff was a poem composed by Su Shi, a great writer and artist of the Northern Song Dynasty known for his provocative poetry. He criticized political reforms and was exiled to Huangzhou in 1080. While banished, he visited the Red Cliff on the sixteenth night of the seventh lunar month, in the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era (1082). It was then that he wrote the first Ode to Red Cliff, a prose poem about a drinking party aboard a boat. In the poem, while cruising the waters below the cliff, Su admonishes a flute-playing companion who lusts after immortality.
Later, in the tenth month of the same year, Su Shi revisited the same spot and completed the second Ode. The two odes have been passed down over the last 1000 years; today, their grappling with inevitable change has come to represent Chinese culture. Su Shi’s literary prowess and ideology are manifest in the profound influence of the First and Second Ode.
Zhang Daqian painted both versions of Ode to Red Cliff several times. The earliest known example is a pair of paintings dated 1941, which Zhang painted for businessman Kang Xinru (1890-1969). The present lots comprise two calligraphy-painting pairs. One pair is based on the first Ode; the other is based on the second. Both are painted in Daqian’s splashed ink and colour technique on silk.
Inspired by the first Ode, Boating to the Red Cliff invites viewers to enter the painting from afar. Much of the composition is occupied by mountains: large forms in splashed ink loom over water, and dots of luxurious malachite pigment accentuate the night’s depths. To the left, in the negative space, a boat of figures traverses a calm river. The humans are dwarfed by the Red Cliff, highlighting the insignificance of living beings when compared to nature’s forces. Zhang debates the notion in the accompanying calligraphy.
Boating and Travelling the Red Cliff brings the viewer into the story of the second Ode. A compact composition, this narrative focuses on Su Shi’s journey as he disembarks from the boat. The scene is dynamic—full of action—with rising waves and shrouding mist painted in white powder. Zhang’s unsurpassed talent immerses the viewer in the painting’s atmosphere.
The calligraphy is Zhang’s own composition, based on his interpretation of two classic poems, Shuidiao Getou (Water Melody) by Su Shi and Man Jiang Hong (The Whole River Red), attributed to Yue Fei. The quality of Zhang’s writing shows that he was adept not only in the aesthetic act of painting but also in the literary meaning of his calligraphy. In all his precision, Zhang ensured that the paintings and works of calligraphy had exactly the same dimensions. They are the perfect pairs.
Zhang Daqian worked throughout 1973 to complete these two painting-calligraphy sets. The same year, he held his solo exhibition, Chang Dai-chien, Exhibition of Chinese Paintings, at Hong Kong City Hall. The exhibition showcased 60 works, including the present lots. Unfortunately, they were not illustrated in the exhibition catalogue. According to an article in Panorama magazine in 1974: “The four highest-value paintings were sold on the show’s first day. Mr Wang Yuncheng acquired the First Ode to Red Cliff and the Second Ode to Red Cliff, two painting-calligraphy sets. Both works are large-scale and hence challenging to photograph due to their size. As a result, they were not illustrated in the catalogue.”
These two painting-calligraphy pairs have remained in the family of Mr Y.C. Wang for half a century. The masterpieces bear witness to the intellectual interaction between Zhang Daqian and Su Shi, a conversation that spanned a millennium.
The Ode to Red Cliff was a poem composed by Su Shi, a great writer and artist of the Northern Song Dynasty known for his provocative poetry. He criticized political reforms and was exiled to Huangzhou in 1080. While banished, he visited the Red Cliff on the sixteenth night of the seventh lunar month, in the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era (1082). It was then that he wrote the first Ode to Red Cliff, a prose poem about a drinking party aboard a boat. In the poem, while cruising the waters below the cliff, Su admonishes a flute-playing companion who lusts after immortality.
Later, in the tenth month of the same year, Su Shi revisited the same spot and completed the second Ode. The two odes have been passed down over the last 1000 years; today, their grappling with inevitable change has come to represent Chinese culture. Su Shi’s literary prowess and ideology are manifest in the profound influence of the First and Second Ode.
Zhang Daqian painted both versions of Ode to Red Cliff several times. The earliest known example is a pair of paintings dated 1941, which Zhang painted for businessman Kang Xinru (1890-1969). The present lots comprise two calligraphy-painting pairs. One pair is based on the first Ode; the other is based on the second. Both are painted in Daqian’s splashed ink and colour technique on silk.
Inspired by the first Ode, Boating to the Red Cliff invites viewers to enter the painting from afar. Much of the composition is occupied by mountains: large forms in splashed ink loom over water, and dots of luxurious malachite pigment accentuate the night’s depths. To the left, in the negative space, a boat of figures traverses a calm river. The humans are dwarfed by the Red Cliff, highlighting the insignificance of living beings when compared to nature’s forces. Zhang debates the notion in the accompanying calligraphy.
Boating and Travelling the Red Cliff brings the viewer into the story of the second Ode. A compact composition, this narrative focuses on Su Shi’s journey as he disembarks from the boat. The scene is dynamic—full of action—with rising waves and shrouding mist painted in white powder. Zhang’s unsurpassed talent immerses the viewer in the painting’s atmosphere.
The calligraphy is Zhang’s own composition, based on his interpretation of two classic poems, Shuidiao Getou (Water Melody) by Su Shi and Man Jiang Hong (The Whole River Red), attributed to Yue Fei. The quality of Zhang’s writing shows that he was adept not only in the aesthetic act of painting but also in the literary meaning of his calligraphy. In all his precision, Zhang ensured that the paintings and works of calligraphy had exactly the same dimensions. They are the perfect pairs.
Zhang Daqian worked throughout 1973 to complete these two painting-calligraphy sets. The same year, he held his solo exhibition, Chang Dai-chien, Exhibition of Chinese Paintings, at Hong Kong City Hall. The exhibition showcased 60 works, including the present lots. Unfortunately, they were not illustrated in the exhibition catalogue. According to an article in Panorama magazine in 1974: “The four highest-value paintings were sold on the show’s first day. Mr Wang Yuncheng acquired the First Ode to Red Cliff and the Second Ode to Red Cliff, two painting-calligraphy sets. Both works are large-scale and hence challenging to photograph due to their size. As a result, they were not illustrated in the catalogue.”
These two painting-calligraphy pairs have remained in the family of Mr Y.C. Wang for half a century. The masterpieces bear witness to the intellectual interaction between Zhang Daqian and Su Shi, a conversation that spanned a millennium.