Page 18 - Wolly & Wallace, July 1, 2020 Chinese Works of Art UK

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ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)
FAREWELL TO A GOOD FRIEND
A Chinese painting, ink and colour on paper, inscribed and signed Shu Jun Zhang Daqian, presented to Pan Feilu (Penfield), dated the thirty-third year of the
Republic Period (1944), with two artist’s seals, the reverse with a paper label which has a translation of the inscription: ‘James K Penfield (Pan Feilu), who called
on me twice at Ta Feng Hall while I was out, as a token for his return to the United States’, 76cm x 43cm.
£50,000-70,000
Provenance: formerly in the collection of the late James Kedzie Penfield (1908-2004). Mr Penfield was part of an American diplomatic team which travelled during the
1930s and 1940s. In 1961, he was appointed as the American Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iceland.
The image of a scholar under a willow tree represents friends saying goodbye. Breaking a willow branch to give to a leaving friend on their departure for a long journey is
a custom which can be traced back to the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and the imagery is frequently used in Chinese literature. The idea is that once the friend has
arrived at their destination, they can plant the broken willow branch and it will regrow into a tree at this new place. The Chinese character for the word ‘willow tree’ is
homophonous with the character liu, meaning ‘to stay’. Gifting a willow branch is therefore a gesture of asking the departing friend to stay as well as a way of showing
how they will be missed and expressing good wishes for the future. This painting by Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) was a gift to his friend the late James Kedzie Penfield
(1908-2004) before Mr Penfield’s return to the United States from China. Mr Penfield visited Zhang Daqian’s studio twice before leaving, but he was out both times and so
they were unable to say goodbye in person. With regret and a heavy heart, Zhang Daqian painted this picture depicting himself as a scholar underneath a willow tree as a
means of saying farewell and wishing his old friend all the best for the future.
張大千（1899-1983）柳畔送友圖 設色紙本 立軸
款識：潘飛露先生兩過予大風堂不遇傾墨美國寫此以送其行，中華民國三十三年十二月蜀郡張大千寫。
鈐印：張爰、三千大千。
來源：潘飛露先生（1908-2004）舊藏，畢業於斯坦福大學，遂加入美國外交大使團訪華。在其工作期間結識了張大千等著名藝術家及名流。
註：古有詩經云：昔我往矣，楊柳依依。明代郭登詩：年年長自送行人，折尽邊城路旁柳。在潘飛露先生回美之前，曾兩顧大風堂訪大千而不
遇。張大千聞之，借古人折柳贈別寓意，做高士圖立於飛絮之下，回首遙望遠方，以此聊寄不捨之情。

James Kedzie Penfield (1908-2004)

Label to the reverse

16 See paragraphs 4 & 5 of our conditions of business at the back of the catalogue for additional charges on the final hammer prices