zhang Daqian (CHINESE 1899-1983)
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Building an empire on skill and illusion, there may not be a more respected yet notorious artist than Zhang Daqian. With a reputation as sizable as his prolific body of work, he is also known by the names Chuan, Yuan, Chang, Chi-yuan, Dai-chien (his moniker when becoming a Buddhist monk), and Dai-chien Chu-shih, meaning “Lay believer Dai-chien”. One of the best known Chinese artists of the twentieth century, in 2011 (nearly 30 years after his death) Daqian made headlines by unseating Pablo Picasso as the top selling artist of the year. In museums around the world today, you may see an original of Daqian’s hanging in the same room with one of his indiscernible forgeries still bearing another artist’s name.
Born on May 10, 1899, Daqian was a native of Nei-chiang, Szechwan. With a successful family business, his parents were able to send their little “Chi” to good schools and encouraged him and his elder brother, Zhang Shanzi (later famous for his paintings of tigers) to pursue their interest and talents in art. Both brothers received painting instruction from famous calligraphers and artists, Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing. Daqian also studied textile dyeing techniques in Kyoto, and studied and copied works by Shi Tao (Shih Tao) and Zhu Da (Ba Da Shan Ren) in efforts to better learn their techniques. To the world’s delight and chagrin, Daqian excelled tremendously in those efforts. His own teachers were nearly fooled by the perfection of his copies.
Back home, he quickly established himself in Shanghai selling his own pieces and copies of Shi Tao’s works. Daqian was met with immediate success and soon sent for by the governor of Qinghai, Ma Bufang, to help analyze and copy Dunhuang’s Buddhist art. By 1930, Daqian worked out of a studio on the grounds of the Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou and collaborated with Pu Xinyu as the “South Zhang and North Pu”. He was already gaining a reputation as a master forger, eventually causing collectors and appraisers to always pause and wonder, “Could this be a Daqian?” But this dynamic artist had begun exploring a style of his own, inspired by the high Tang art and informed by 1,000 years of Chinese techniques he’d so quickly been absorbing. He would become best known for his landscapes and lotus paintings, using uniquely sumptuous brushstrokes as he explored the realms of both modern impressionism and expressionism, and mastering both, while maintaining and improving upon Chinese traditional themes and styles.
It was a tense political climate that first drove Daqian from China in 1949, but he would go on to travel and be well received from country to country, culture to culture, for the majority of his life; his art and charm opening doors all the way. He has shown and produced his work in Argentina, Brazil, America, Taiwan, Korea, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Switzerland. In 1956, he famously met with Picasso in Nice, France, and the two masters exchanged paintings. This was publicly embraced as an important East meets West moment in art history.
Throughout his exciting life of travel and creation, Daqian received many honors and awards, and many important invitations. He worked as an adviser to the Research Section of the Ancient Relics Exhibition Institute in Peking, and was a member of the preparatory committee for the National Dunhuang Art Institute. He also offered his research expertise at the Chinese Fine Art Institute. He was invited to India as a guest lecturer at the University of Darjeeling and to make copies of frescoes in Ajanta Grottoes in Maharashtra State. The International Fine Arts Association in New York elected Daqian “The Best Contemporary Painter in the World”, and granted him a gold medal. He received honorary Phds in philosophy and humanities from the Chinese Fine Arts College,Taiwan, and the Pacific University, California, respectively. And in 1968, according to a poll of public opinion, The World Newspaper in Bangkok awarded him the “Best Contemporary Chinese Painter”.
When he passed away in 1983, Daqian left behind over 30,000 pieces of art, a legacy that endears the international art world to him, and a puzzle for all collectors to keep them wondering, “Could this be a Daqian?”
List of Recorded Galleries/Museums Shown:
Yong’an Restaurant, Tianjin (1938)
Musee National d’Art Moderne (1946)
Japanese National Museum (1955)
Tokyo Museum (1955)
Paris Museum (1959)
Victoria Memorial hall, Singapore (1963)
Stanford University Museum, U.S.A. (1967)
National Museum of History, Taipei (1st in 1967)
National Palace Museum, Taiwan (1967)
Hong Kong City Hall, Hong Kong (1971)
Andrew Gallery, Los Angeles (1972)
De Young Museum of San Francisco (1972)
Central Gallery, Tokyo (1974)
National Modern Gallery, Seoul (1975)
National Gallery in the National Museum, Singapore (1980)
Oriental Museum, Paris (1981)
Born on May 10, 1899, Daqian was a native of Nei-chiang, Szechwan. With a successful family business, his parents were able to send their little “Chi” to good schools and encouraged him and his elder brother, Zhang Shanzi (later famous for his paintings of tigers) to pursue their interest and talents in art. Both brothers received painting instruction from famous calligraphers and artists, Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing. Daqian also studied textile dyeing techniques in Kyoto, and studied and copied works by Shi Tao (Shih Tao) and Zhu Da (Ba Da Shan Ren) in efforts to better learn their techniques. To the world’s delight and chagrin, Daqian excelled tremendously in those efforts. His own teachers were nearly fooled by the perfection of his copies.
Back home, he quickly established himself in Shanghai selling his own pieces and copies of Shi Tao’s works. Daqian was met with immediate success and soon sent for by the governor of Qinghai, Ma Bufang, to help analyze and copy Dunhuang’s Buddhist art. By 1930, Daqian worked out of a studio on the grounds of the Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou and collaborated with Pu Xinyu as the “South Zhang and North Pu”. He was already gaining a reputation as a master forger, eventually causing collectors and appraisers to always pause and wonder, “Could this be a Daqian?” But this dynamic artist had begun exploring a style of his own, inspired by the high Tang art and informed by 1,000 years of Chinese techniques he’d so quickly been absorbing. He would become best known for his landscapes and lotus paintings, using uniquely sumptuous brushstrokes as he explored the realms of both modern impressionism and expressionism, and mastering both, while maintaining and improving upon Chinese traditional themes and styles.
It was a tense political climate that first drove Daqian from China in 1949, but he would go on to travel and be well received from country to country, culture to culture, for the majority of his life; his art and charm opening doors all the way. He has shown and produced his work in Argentina, Brazil, America, Taiwan, Korea, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Switzerland. In 1956, he famously met with Picasso in Nice, France, and the two masters exchanged paintings. This was publicly embraced as an important East meets West moment in art history.
Throughout his exciting life of travel and creation, Daqian received many honors and awards, and many important invitations. He worked as an adviser to the Research Section of the Ancient Relics Exhibition Institute in Peking, and was a member of the preparatory committee for the National Dunhuang Art Institute. He also offered his research expertise at the Chinese Fine Art Institute. He was invited to India as a guest lecturer at the University of Darjeeling and to make copies of frescoes in Ajanta Grottoes in Maharashtra State. The International Fine Arts Association in New York elected Daqian “The Best Contemporary Painter in the World”, and granted him a gold medal. He received honorary Phds in philosophy and humanities from the Chinese Fine Arts College,Taiwan, and the Pacific University, California, respectively. And in 1968, according to a poll of public opinion, The World Newspaper in Bangkok awarded him the “Best Contemporary Chinese Painter”.
When he passed away in 1983, Daqian left behind over 30,000 pieces of art, a legacy that endears the international art world to him, and a puzzle for all collectors to keep them wondering, “Could this be a Daqian?”
List of Recorded Galleries/Museums Shown:
Yong’an Restaurant, Tianjin (1938)
Musee National d’Art Moderne (1946)
Japanese National Museum (1955)
Tokyo Museum (1955)
Paris Museum (1959)
Victoria Memorial hall, Singapore (1963)
Stanford University Museum, U.S.A. (1967)
National Museum of History, Taipei (1st in 1967)
National Palace Museum, Taiwan (1967)
Hong Kong City Hall, Hong Kong (1971)
Andrew Gallery, Los Angeles (1972)
De Young Museum of San Francisco (1972)
Central Gallery, Tokyo (1974)
National Modern Gallery, Seoul (1975)
National Gallery in the National Museum, Singapore (1980)
Oriental Museum, Paris (1981)