Master of Ink: The Unraveling Legacy of Zhang Daqian

In this second installment of our two-part feature, we’ll continue to talk about the 20th Century artist Zhang Daqian. With a fearless spirit, he embraced innovation, blending ancient techniques with modern sensibilities to redefine the very essence of Chinese art. 

Transcript

Master of Ink: The Unraveling Legacy of Zhang Daqian

In this second installment of our two-part feature, we’ll continue to talk about the 20th Century artist Zhang Daqian. With a fearless spirit, he embraced innovation, blending ancient techniques with modern sensibilities to redefine the very essence of Chinese art. 

After spending 100 days as a bandit and 100 days as a monk, Zhang Daqian was back in his hometown in Neijiang of southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Zhang Daqian’s family was perplexed about his future. Since he showed a passion for calligraphy and painting, they decided to support his interest and sent him to pursue further studies. 

Some listeners might wonder why his family supported his pursuit of painting after all the trouble he had caused. Well, it turned out that Zhang Daqian’s mother was quite accomplished herself, skilled in writing, painting, and embroidery. Moreover, although his elder brother was not a professional artist, he was renowned locally for tiger paintings, indicating a strong artistic lineage in the family. Seeing Zhang Daqian’s interest in painting, his brother decided to nurture his talent and sent him to Shanghai to pursue his artistic education.

Arriving in Shanghai, Zhang Daqian sought out renowned masters and visited esteemed artists. Eventually, he found several excellent teachers who began instructing him. At this point, Zhang Daqian experienced a remarkable leap in his calligraphy and painting skills, owing partly to his inherent talent. When he started learning to paint, he began by copying and imitating ancient styles, such as landscape paintings. He meticulously studied the works of renowned ancient Chinese painters like Fan Kuan, Yan Liben, and Wu Daozi. Among them, Zhang Daqian excelled at imitating the works of the famed Qing Dynasty painter Shi Tao, who was highly regarded for his paintings.

Zhang Daqian’s imitation of Shi Tao’s style was so meticulous that his master believed his paintings could easily be mistaken for the real thing. In fact, his skill at imitating Shi Tao eventually led to trouble when he unintentionally offended a local celebrity. One day, a prominent painter and art collector named Chen Banding invited colleagues from the art world to his home for dinner. Although the dinner seemed like a casual gathering, Chen Banding had an ulterior motive. He wanted to impress his guests by revealing his recent acquisition – a set of paintings attributed to Shi Tao. As he proudly displayed the paintings, Zhang Daqian recognized his own work and couldn’t help but chuckle. He interrupted the proceedings, saying, “There’s no need for everyone to look. These paintings aren’t by Shi Tao – they’re mine.”

At that time, Zhang Daqian was in his twenties, relatively unknown in the art world. The other painters present were stunned by his bold claim. Chen Banding, the esteemed collector, decided to test Zhang Daqian’s assertion by flipping through the pages of the album. Zhang Daqian confidently predicted the contents of each page without even looking. His descriptions were incredibly precise, down to the strokes and seals used. The entire room was amazed by his accuracy.

However, Zhang Daqian was well aware that his revelation likely offended Chen Banding. It was embarrassing for a renowned collector to be exposed for possessing a fake painting, especially in front of so many people. When Zhang Daqian returned home, his master scolded him severely and cautioned him against offending others in the future.

Nevertheless, another incident occurred later. That time, the renowned painter Huang Binhong had seen an authentic landscape painting by Shi Tao at Zhang Daqian’s place. Later, while walking down the street one day, he saw a painting in a shop that stunned him. It was yet another painting by Shi Tao! Could it be that he had been deceived? He carefully examined it from front to back and concluded that it indeed was genuine. “Oh my!” he thought. “How could DaQian be so destitute as to sell such a treasure?” So, he took out 100 silver dollars and bought the painting. After the purchase, because Huang Binhong had a good relationship with Zhang Daqian, he had the painting over sent over, implying, “Brother, how did you become so impoverished? If you need money, just let me know. How could you sell such a valuable treasure? Luckily, I saw it before it fell into someone else’s hands.” 

When Zhang Daqian saw it, he chuckled and said, “Teacher Huang, you’ve been deceived. That’s my painting.” This revelation left Huang Binhong feeling extremely embarrassed. Therefore, through these two short stories, we can see how superb Zhang Daqian’s painting skills were.

Zhang Daqian later painted countless copies of famous paintings, imitating the styles of various artists and achieving remarkable authenticity. It is said that many of the ancient Chinese landscape paintings stored in major museums around the world, claimed to be authentic, are actually the works of Zhang Daqian. This is not surprising at all, because a few years ago there was a great painter in Europe, not particularly famous, who specialized in copying Picasso, Gauguin, Monet, Van Gogh, and so on, learning to imitate one after another. Many of the so-called authentic works collected by world-class museums are attributed to him. Later, he was imprisoned for forging paintings. When he was released, the entire calligraphy and painting world was shaken. Disaster struck again because his imitations were so skillful that you couldn’t tell them apart. I only mention this to indicate that Zhang Daqian’s level of skill was extremely high.

By the time he was 25 or 26 years old, he had become famous in Shanghai, and there was no one among artists and collectors who didn’t know him. In 1933, at the invitation of Luo Jialun, the President of Central University in Nanjing, and Xu Beihong, the Director of the Art Department, Zhang Daqian became a professor in the Art Department of Central University. At that time, the Art Department of Central University was filled with talented individuals. Renowned painters such as Xu Beihong, Lü Fengzi, and Zhang Shuqi were all teaching there. Zhang Daqian stood out among his peers with his bold brushwork and simple yet profound landscape scenery.

In 1936, the first edition of The Collection of Zhang Daqian’s Paintings was published by the Shanghai Zhonghua Bookstore. Zhang Daqian invited Xu Beihong, who was proficient in both Chinese and Western painting styles, to write the preface. It was titled “The First Person in Five Hundred Years.”

From the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republican era, China’s two major political, economic, and cultural centers were Beijing and Shanghai. During that time, most intellectuals and artists were concentrated in these two places. When Zhang Daqian was in his thirties, he embarked on a nationwide journey. His first stop was Beijing, where he intended to exchange ideas with local artists. Unfortunately, he encountered misfortune. The year he arrived was 1937, when Japan launched an all-out invasion of China. The Japanese occupied Beiping, now Beijing, and Zhang Daqian was himself unable to leave. 

Due to his widespread reputation across the country, the Japanese authorities approached him with proposals for collaboration, such as promoting “Sino-Japanese friendship” and establishing committees for education, arts, and literature under the pretext of “Greater East Asia Prosperity Sphere,” intending to appoint Zhang Daqian to a nominal position within these committees. However, Zhang Daqian was unwavering in his patriotic stance. He refused to collaborate with the Japanese, as it would compromise his principles and potentially label him as a traitor. Despite pressure and coercion from the Japanese authorities, Zhang Daqian remained steadfast. Failing to persuade him, they resorted to placing him under house arrest.

Later, taking advantage of a slight relaxation in Japanese surveillance and with the help of friends, Zhang Daqian disguised himself and escaped from his residence. Upon escaping, he pondered the chaotic situation: the Japanese had occupied much of North China, making it too dangerous to remain. So, he decided to head northwest. His true desire, however, was to visit Dunhuang. Dunhuang was renowned for one thing above all else – its murals.

Upon arriving in Dunhuang, Zhang Daqian was captivated by the murals. The ancient art deeply touched his heart. He immersed himself in learning from these works. Eventually, he pioneered the Dunhuang painting style, turning this period of hardship into an opportunity for artistic growth.

In 1957, at the age of 58, Zhang Daqian developed cataracts. And while modern medical techniques can usually remove cataracts with a routine operation, the surgical procedure at that time was not so advanced. After undergoing surgery, one of his eyes became completely blind, and his vision in the other eye deteriorated significantly. This illness had a profound impact on his painting because Zhang Daqian’s early painting style focused on delicate lines, and without good eyesight, he found it challenging to continue in this manner. 

This was a significant blow to Zhang Daqian. For a painter, losing eyesight is akin to a musician losing their hearing. Naturally, he was deeply distressed at the time, but he didn’t give up hope. He thought, “If I can’t paint with fine lines, why not use bold strokes instead?” 

Since the Tang Dynasty, which lasted from 618 to 907, there had been a technique called splash ink painting, where ink or color was splashed onto the paper to create a flowing effect. Of course, it wasn’t literally splashed onto the paper; rather, it involved dipping a large brush into ink and then painting directly onto the paper with broad strokes. Zhang Daqian began to study and experiment with this technique.

It’s as if fate destined him for this path. Within a few years, Zhang Daqian pioneered the technique of splash ink painting, which became a popular painting style in his later years, gaining worldwide recognition. This provided valuable reference and inspiration for innovation in painting techniques for later generations of Chinese artists.

Zhang Daqian passed away at the age of 83 in 1983. Throughout his life, he was filled with boundless passion and energy, creating an average of 500 paintings per year. He was undeniably a prolific artist. One of Zhang Daqian’s most expensive paintings, the Peaceful Couple created in 1947, sold for a staggering 191 million Hong Kong dollars in a 2011 auction in Hong Kong, setting another record high price for Zhang Daqian’s works. Another notable sale was the Lake of Love, which fetched 100.8 million yuan, about US$14 million, in 2010. This marked the first time a modern Chinese painting surpassed the 100-million-yuan mark and became a new milestone in the pricing of modern Chinese paintings.

Zhang Daqian’s life was indeed filled with adversity. He experienced life as a bandit, spent time as a monk, suffered the loss of an unmarried partner, endured confinement by the Japanese, and faced blindness in his later years. Despite these hardships, he refused to be defeated by setbacks. Instead, he viewed them as stepping stones, propelling him forward on his artistic journey. 

Well, that’s the end of our podcast. Our theme music is by the famous film score composer Roc Chen. We want to thank our writer Lü Weitao, translator Du Guodong, and copy editor Pu Ren. And thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please tell a friend so they, too, can understand The Context.