Page 34 - Beyond Compare Christie's Hong Kong RU WARE .pdf

BEYOND COMPARE: A Thousand Years of the Literati Aesthetic

RECOUNTING REEMERGENCE:

Dispelling Sixty Years of Myths on the Collection History of Bada Shanren’s Landscapes and Calligraphy

n 1699, Zhu Da (Bada Shanren) created Landscapes and dealer Joseph Umeo Seo (1911-1998) brought Zhang’s catalogue
ICalligraphy dedicated to a gentleman friend. The eighteen- to the attention of preeminent collector John M. Crawford Jr.
leaf album was executed in ink on paper. The first six leaves (1913-1988). Together Seo and Crawford acquired several of the
reproduce the famous Preface to the Orchid Pavilion. The remaining works listed in the catalogue. In 1962 Lawrence Sickman (1907-
twelve leaves constitute six pairs of landscapes and original verses. 1988) organised an exhibition of Crawford’s collection in New
York. The accompanying volume edited by Sickman, Catalogue
During the Qing period, historic works of painting and
of the Exhibition of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting, includes 19
calligraphy from the preceding dynasties were especially prized.
works also found in Zhang’s Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from
As such, the genius of Bada Shanren’s free and expressive
Ta Feng Tang. These span the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing
brushwork in the work was not recognised in his own day, and it
dynasties, including exceptional examples by leading masters of
is not known in records of the period. Landscapes and Calligraphy
each period. Though we know it to be a substantial figure, it is
first comes to light through Zhang Daqian’s 1955 publication
impossible to calculate the exact number of classical paintings and
Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from Ta Feng Tang. In December
calligraphy pieces Crawford acquired from Zhang’s collection.
1949, Zhang Daqian departed Chengdu on a direct flight to
Taiwan. He took with him 50 of his own copies made from the Turning our attention to Beijing, preeminent connoisseur Zhang
frescoes at Dunhuang, along with numerous classical works of Heng (Zhang Congyu, 1915-1963) discussed Masterpieces of
painting and calligraphy. These works accompanied him on his Chinese Painting from Ta Feng Tang in his late 1950s publication
itinerant lifestyle, which took him from Hong Kong, to India, Notes on the Authentication of Painting and Calligraphy from
Argentina and many other destinations. In 1954 Zhang moved to the Muyan Studio. Zhang Heng was a leading authority in
Mogi das Cruzes in Brazil, buying over 200 acres of land. Here connoisseurship: a member of the Palace Museum’s Committee
he built a Chinese style garden, which he named the Garden for the Authentication of Cultural Relics, Deputy Editor in
of Eight Virtues, or Bade Yuan. During this time, Zhang was Chief of the Cultural Relics Bureau Publishing House, and
in robust health, travelling between Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, Deputy Head of the Cultural Relics Bureau. In his Notes, he
Taiwan, Europe and America. From a solid base in the art worlds comments on several works by Bada Shanren recorded in Zhang
of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, he also sought to break into Daqian’s Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from Ta Feng Tang, and the
the West. This was an expensive undertaking, and stretched his discussion of Landscapes and Calligraphy reads as follows:
purse beyond the funds raised through his selling exhibitions.
Bada Shanren, album of poems and paintings, six leaves.
To meet this financial need, Zhang decided to sell off some of
the historic works that had left Chengdu with him. In autumn Six leaves in ink and colour on paper, measuring … high
1954, Zhang began compiling a selection of classical Chinese and … wide. The landscapes are exceptionally fine, each leaf
paintings and calligraphic works from his own collection, to be paired with an inscription. The dimensions of the inscriptions
published as Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from Ta Feng Tang. match those of the painting, and are undated. On the basis
In January 1955, after the closure of his latest exhibition in of the signature the album was likely produced when the
Hong Kong, Zhang flew direct to Japan to supervise printing artist was in his 70s. The album includes a freehand copy of
of this publication. In Winter of that year its four imposing Wang Xizhi’s (303-361) Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, which is
volumes were published in Japan, coinciding with the opening recorded separately…. An accompanying semi-cursive script
th
of Zhang’s latest Japanese exhibition. This publication cemented inscription dates the work to the yimao year, in the 38 year
Zhang’s international reputation as a connoisseur, collector and of the Kangxi reign period (1699), when Bada Shanren was
practitioner of classical Chinese painting and calligraphy. 74 years of age.

The pages of Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from Ta Feng Tang Zhang Heng’s Notes approach the work in two parts,
lead the reader through an astounding array of classical works documenting the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion in a separate entry
from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Soon from Bada’s twelve album leaves of paired painting and original
after its publication, this compendium of Zhang’s collection verse. He describes the landscapes as “exceptionally fine”, an
attracted distinct attention from the metropolitan centres of New appraisal based upon its publication in Masterpieces of Chinese
York and Beijing. In New York, Japanese American antique Painting from Ta Feng Tang. Zhang Heng was clearly deeply

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