Rooster and Cockscomb

The recipient of this painting, Huang Hsüeh-Chun, was born in Xiangtan, Hunan, and was previously Li Zongren’s secretary. He held important positions such as the director of the Beiping News Department, the editor-in-chief of the “Central Daily”, the director of the Second Bureau of the Taiwan Presidential Office, and the vice-chairman of the China-Japan Relations Research Association. Huang wrote a book titled A Motley Collection, in which he mentioned building a relationship with the artist during his time in Beiping after 1945. Perhaps because they are both from Xiangtan, Huang received three paintings and two seals from the artist, and the current piece should be one of them.

According to the present owner, when Li Zongren became the acting President of China in January 1949, the artist painted this rooster and cockscomb flower painting and dedicated it to Huang in celebration of his rise to a position so intimate with the nominally highest power in the nation. The rooster and cockscomb flower are used to represent guan, or a high official position. The rooster, with its crown, is visually symbolic, while the cockscomb flower is both visually and phonetically so. By presenting Huang with a painting that has both the rooster and the cockscomb flower, the artist is acknowledging Huang’s position as one of the country’s highest officials.

Zhang Daqian’s Landscape along Highway Hengguan from the same family collection was sold in May 2011 at HK$52,180,000 by Christie’s Hong Kong.