Page 194 - Bonhams Chinese Paintings June 2015

Property from Mr. and Mrs. Hal Louchheim, Palo Alto, California

7351
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983)
Splashed-Ink Autumn Landscape, 1965
Ink and color on gold cardboard, mounted, framed and glazed, at the left inscribed with the
title Qiu Shan Xiao Si (Buddhist Temple in Autumn Mountain) and signed Yuan Weng with two
artist’s seals reading Daqian and yisi (1965), on the verso inscribed di jiu Qiu Shan Xiao Si.
23 1/4 x 17 1/2in (59 x 44.5cm)
$180,000 - 250,000

Provenance
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Hal Louchheim, purchased from Erickson Gallery, Palo Alto,
California in the mid-1970s

The present lot is likely one of several splashed-ink landscapes created by Zhang Daqian in
1965 (see Chang Dai-chien in California, San Francisco: San Francisco State University, 1999,
catalog 12, pp. 64-65, and Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2015, lots 1228-1229). Inscribed
by the artist with the title Qiu Shan Siao Si, or “Buddhist Temple in Autumn Mountain,” this
painting’s subject is particularly treasured by Zhang - in 1940 Zhang had created an earlier
Siu Shan Xiao Si in ink, stating in that inscription that it was painted in homage to the Yuan
Master Wang Meng’s work of the same title. Throughout his lifetime, Zhang Daqian admired
the paintings of Wang Meng (1308-1385). According to the renowned scholar Fu Shen, “...
among Yuan dynasty painters, the one most suited to the personality and tendencies of Zhang
Daqian was Wang Meng. Zhang liked Wang Meng the best; his collection was richest in works
by Wang Meng. Zhang made the strongest effort in studying Wang Meng, and he benefited the
most from Wang Meng.” (Translated from Fu Shen, Zhang Daqian xue shu lun wen ji, Taipei:
National Museum of History, 1994, p. 176.) The present lot shows Zhang Daqian splashing
multiple layers of ink and color to create the painting’s richness and depth, recalling the dense
brushwork and complex composition of Wang Meng’s landscapes, making it perhaps the most
accomplished of Zhang Daqian’s splashed-ink landscapes.

192 | BONHAMS