Sunday, September 27, 2015

有幸一見 X 張大千:Chang Dai-Chien’s @ Sichuan Museum

fortunate enough to drop by

Sichuan Museum at Chengdu to

witness some masterpiece artworks by

Mr Zhang Da Qian a.k.a. Chang Dai-Chien

Chang Dai-Chien, Sichuan Museum 張大千 四川博物院

 

these were part of his work

during early 40’s

spending 2 years 7 months at

Mogao Caves, Dunhuang(敦煌莫高窟)

I hate to use the word “copy” the mural

is there a better / more technical term

in Chinese, it sounds way better, lin mo(臨摹)

Chang Dai-Chien, Sichuan Museum 張大千 四川博物院Chang Dai-Chien, Sichuan Museum 張大千 四川博物院Chang Dai-Chien, Sichuan Museum 張大千 四川博物院

 

these paintings were kept at his hometown

ever since he never return to mainland

it meant he parted with these paintings for

the rest of his life since 1940’s and

were donated to the nation as

told by him to his family

after his decease

 

his activities in Mogao Caves

sparked some controversies as

he was accused of peeling the

top layer away to reveal the one underneath

therefore causing some damage

to the original mural

Chang Dai-Chien, Sichuan Museum 張大千 四川博物院

 

one of the world’s top selling artists

his name is placed alongside with

Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso

 

he is way beyond a legend

spending almost 40 years abroad

including in a small city in

Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil

where he bought a persimmon farm and

rebuilt it into a Chinese garden

 

it’s hard to imagine

throughout these years

from one countries to another

he was still painting

Chinese artworks all his life

How??

 

Known for his landscape painting and his

unique ink-splashing technique

his paintings are a combination of

new techniques on traditional themes

across different genres of Chinese paintings

 

Lotus and Mandarin Ducks(1947)

was auctioned for 191m HKD(26.4 m USD)

by Sotheby’s HK on 2011 嘉耦图 1947年 1.91亿港元 香港苏富比 2011-05-31 Chang Dai-Chien Lotus

 

Aachensee Lake(1968)

was auctioned for 100.8 m RMB (14.76 m USD) at

China Guardian's Spring Auction on 2010

爱痕湖 1968年 1.008亿元 中国嘉德 2010-05-17

 

Lady with Flowers (1968)

was auctioned for 74m RMB  at

Beijing Polypm on 2010

天女散花 1935年 7448万元 北京保利 2010-12-03多子图 1945年 7458万港元 香港苏富比 2011-05-31

 

some minimalist’s

张大千国画玉簪花张大千 不丹少女

 

animals and minority group

张大千 番女掣厖图

 

over 100 self-portraits

assuming different roles

Chang Dai-Chien self portrait 02Chang Dai-Chien self portrait 01張大千 自画像与黑虎

 

even as Zhong Kui(鍾馗)

a ghost-catching role

张大千 钟馗进士像

 

monkeys

he kept a monkey as pet

until he passed away at Taipei

at the age of 84

张大千 长臂猴

 

that marked the opening of

my journey in exploring Chinese paintings

where more interesting artists and stories

were gradually unfolded