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Lot Essay
Through over two decades of artistic practice and refinement, Zhang Daqian’s splashed ink and colour paintings in his later years reveal an increasingly profound sense of depth, distinctly different from the purely abstract explorations of his earlier period.
The present lot, painted in 1981 after the artist had resettled in Taiwan, demonstrates a masterful blend of free-flowing splashed colours and meticulous brushwork. The primary landscape elements—mountains and vegetation—are rendered through bold applications of azurite and malachite green, with the most striking effect appearing at the mountain’s midsection. Here, the layered, overlapping, and interwoven mineral pigments create an intense, jewel-like richness, while subtle variations in tone produce delicate textures. From a distance, the scene evokes the glow of a setting sun casting its final light upon the mountains, a grand yet ethereal vision reminiscent of a celestial paradise. Zhang Daqian employs expressive brushwork to outline pavilions, temples, boats, and figures, gradually revealing a tranquil dwelling hidden amidst the mist and clouds—an idyllic utopia.
In his later years, Zhang Daqian resided in the serene surroundings of Moye Jingshe, far removed from the bustling city of Taipei. His artistic creations increasingly reflected a transcendent return to nature.
This sentiment is echoed in the inscription on this painting:
Not drifting with the world, nor swayed by its tides.
The earthly paradise is no more—where, then, shall my boat go?
Throughout his life, Zhang Daqian journeyed across continents in pursuit of his own utopian retreat. Though he eventually settled in Taiwan, he was never able to return to his ancestral homeland. At eighty-three, reflecting on a lifetime of wanderings, he expressed both melancholy and resignation. Yet, in the final lines of the inscription, he wrote:
The plum rains have just cleared, the breeze and sun are soft and gentle,
I take joy in wielding my brush.
The inscription reveals his enduring optimism and acceptance of life’s impermanence.
Art historian Fu Shen once remarked:
Zhang Daqian devoted his life to the pursuit of beauty—searching tirelessly and enduring great hardships, all in the hope of preserving it. “Peach Blossom Spring” was the projection of his idealized aesthetic, yet perhaps, in the end, it was an unattainable mirage.
In Search of Paradise is both an exceptional masterpiece of Zhang Daqian’s mature splashed-colour technique and a poignant reflection on his lifelong artistic and spiritual quest. It embodies the timeless ideals of landscape painting—a pursuit of beauty, transcendence, and an unattainable paradise that has inspired Chinese artists for centuries.
The present lot, painted in 1981 after the artist had resettled in Taiwan, demonstrates a masterful blend of free-flowing splashed colours and meticulous brushwork. The primary landscape elements—mountains and vegetation—are rendered through bold applications of azurite and malachite green, with the most striking effect appearing at the mountain’s midsection. Here, the layered, overlapping, and interwoven mineral pigments create an intense, jewel-like richness, while subtle variations in tone produce delicate textures. From a distance, the scene evokes the glow of a setting sun casting its final light upon the mountains, a grand yet ethereal vision reminiscent of a celestial paradise. Zhang Daqian employs expressive brushwork to outline pavilions, temples, boats, and figures, gradually revealing a tranquil dwelling hidden amidst the mist and clouds—an idyllic utopia.
In his later years, Zhang Daqian resided in the serene surroundings of Moye Jingshe, far removed from the bustling city of Taipei. His artistic creations increasingly reflected a transcendent return to nature.
This sentiment is echoed in the inscription on this painting:
Not drifting with the world, nor swayed by its tides.
The earthly paradise is no more—where, then, shall my boat go?
Throughout his life, Zhang Daqian journeyed across continents in pursuit of his own utopian retreat. Though he eventually settled in Taiwan, he was never able to return to his ancestral homeland. At eighty-three, reflecting on a lifetime of wanderings, he expressed both melancholy and resignation. Yet, in the final lines of the inscription, he wrote:
The plum rains have just cleared, the breeze and sun are soft and gentle,
I take joy in wielding my brush.
The inscription reveals his enduring optimism and acceptance of life’s impermanence.
Art historian Fu Shen once remarked:
Zhang Daqian devoted his life to the pursuit of beauty—searching tirelessly and enduring great hardships, all in the hope of preserving it. “Peach Blossom Spring” was the projection of his idealized aesthetic, yet perhaps, in the end, it was an unattainable mirage.
In Search of Paradise is both an exceptional masterpiece of Zhang Daqian’s mature splashed-colour technique and a poignant reflection on his lifelong artistic and spiritual quest. It embodies the timeless ideals of landscape painting—a pursuit of beauty, transcendence, and an unattainable paradise that has inspired Chinese artists for centuries.