Page 47 - The Pioneers, November 26, 2016 Hong Kong

A Thousand Peaks lift from earth in ranks of green and azure, Ancient pine trees sigh and moan
across their layered slopes.
These winding, convoluted ridges seem wondrous and fantastic, Cascades spurt a thousand meters
dangling from the Milky Way.
SELF-EXILE TO GLOBAL NOMAD
By 1965, Zhang Daqian had travelled much of the
world covering South America, Europe and Asia
before he chose to make Carmel, California his home
for several years to follow. His paintings completed
in this year portray a multitude of subjects, from
the snowstorms of the Swiss Alps to the remote
settlements of Brazil, but it is likely this work was
inspired by nostalgia and sentiment. Perhaps yearning
to recall memories of life in Asia, the artist sought
comfort in painting a vivid depiction of towering
mountains with a cluster of Chinese homes nestled
amongst its high precipices accessible only by a
winding road precariously hugging the mountain edge.
EARLY DISCIPLINE IN CHINESE CLASSICAL
ART TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPLASHED-
INK PAINTINGS
Zhang Daqian's early training provided him with a
strong grounding in Chinese Classical art - having spent
his 20's perfecting the style of old masters, he took
great delight in challenging his peers to differentiate
between the original and his copy. During this time,
Zhang engaged himself in the study and understanding
of classical traditions, submerging himself in the works
of Bada Shanren and Shitao, and creating works filled
Fig. 5 Zhang Daqian admiring the views at his South Fig. 3 Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Majestic Peaks, Fine Chinese Modern
American residence, Garden of Eight Virtues
圖 5 張大千在南美寓所八德園中欣賞風景
< Lot 2505 Detail 局部 >
- Zhang Daqian
with elegance and a balanced restraint. He built a
strong foundation in his control of the brush and use
of colours, culminating to a two and a half year study
of the caves at Dunhuang from 1940-1942 (Fig. 1).
From this experience, he was able to extract, digest,
and personalize the essence of the scholar tradition,
and move in a new direction, inspired by the extremely
colourful and meticulously painted cave drawings
from the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties
which he religiously copied. Here, Zhang cemented
his craft in meticulous drawing and developed a
sensitivity to the use of colours in his work (Fig. 2).
Zhang's second period of artistic development
happened post-1957, as he started experimenting in
the splashed-ink style. His use of colours became more
fabulous and diverse, exuding an air of magnificence
and monumentality in his landscape creations. This
technique of “accumulating ink and colour” were
in part derived from the Tang dynasty model of
splashing ink on silk and spreading them into shapes.
Particularly, Zhang focused on the ancient method
of splashed-ink, boneless (mogu) works (Fig. 3).
The years from 1965 to 1969 marked the apex of
Zhang's artistic career. Undoubtedly, his exposure
to different cultures and artistic styles over the
course of his travels greatly inspired and influenced
Paintings , 1 December 2015, Lot 1343, Sold for HKD2,680,000
圖 3 張大千，《碧峰橫嶺》，香港佳士得，中國近現代畫，2015年12月1日，
編 號 13 4 3，成 交 價：港 幣 2 , 6 8 0 , 0 0 0
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