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Lot Essay
This painting is dedicated to Yao Ke (1905–1991), also known by his sobriquet Xinnong, a 20th-century writer and playwright born in Xiamen, Fujian. He graduated from Soochow University and later settled in Shanghai, where he became known for translating and publishing works by Lu Xun and other prominent writers. After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Yao engaged in theatrical work both abroad and in Shanghai, creating renowned plays such as Lament of the Qing Palace (Qinggong Yuan). In 1943, he married the actress Shangguan Yunzhu, a highly publicized union that eventually ended in divorce. In 1948, Yao relocated to Hong Kong, where he taught at The Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1967, serving as Head of the Department of Chinese and later as Dean of the Faculty of Arts.
In the 1960s, Yao Ke met Zhang Daqian in Hong Kong. He translated Zhang Daqian’s discourses on traditional Chinese painting into English, which were published in the important 1961 book The Paintings of Chang Dai-chien, edited by Kao Ling-mei. This collaboration attests to the friendship among the three. Yao Ke and his family moved to the United States in 1969. Between 1971 and 1975, while Zhang Daqian lived in Pebble Beach, California, Yao Ke frequently visited him. When Zhang received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Pacific in California in 1974, Yao Ke delivered the speech at the conferment ceremony, further demonstrating their deep friendship.
This painting was created in the second month of the renyin year (1962). That year, Zhang Daqian first travelled to Paris and later to Tokyo, during which he visited Yokohama. This work was completed while he was staying at Kairakuen in Yokohama. In April of the same year, the newly opened Hong Kong City Hall Museum of Art hosted a solo exhibition of Zhang Daqian’s recent works as its inaugural show. The exhibition featured 100 paintings, with a catalog preface written by Yao Ke. The exhibition brochure listed 32 works, only five of which were illustrated.
River Landscape of Sichuan, listed as No. 23 in the brochure, corresponds to the title inscribed on the present painting. Since Kao Ling-mei both organized the exhibition and inscribed the titleslip of this work, it is reasonable to assume that this painting is indeed No. 23 from the exhibition—an assumption supported by similar examples from Kao Ling-mei’s Mei Yun Tang collection, which were also included in the show and listed in the brochure. It is also possible that Zhang Daqian gifted this painting to Yao Ke in appreciation of his contribution to the exhibition catalog preface.
In the 1960s, Yao Ke met Zhang Daqian in Hong Kong. He translated Zhang Daqian’s discourses on traditional Chinese painting into English, which were published in the important 1961 book The Paintings of Chang Dai-chien, edited by Kao Ling-mei. This collaboration attests to the friendship among the three. Yao Ke and his family moved to the United States in 1969. Between 1971 and 1975, while Zhang Daqian lived in Pebble Beach, California, Yao Ke frequently visited him. When Zhang received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Pacific in California in 1974, Yao Ke delivered the speech at the conferment ceremony, further demonstrating their deep friendship.
This painting was created in the second month of the renyin year (1962). That year, Zhang Daqian first travelled to Paris and later to Tokyo, during which he visited Yokohama. This work was completed while he was staying at Kairakuen in Yokohama. In April of the same year, the newly opened Hong Kong City Hall Museum of Art hosted a solo exhibition of Zhang Daqian’s recent works as its inaugural show. The exhibition featured 100 paintings, with a catalog preface written by Yao Ke. The exhibition brochure listed 32 works, only five of which were illustrated.
River Landscape of Sichuan, listed as No. 23 in the brochure, corresponds to the title inscribed on the present painting. Since Kao Ling-mei both organized the exhibition and inscribed the titleslip of this work, it is reasonable to assume that this painting is indeed No. 23 from the exhibition—an assumption supported by similar examples from Kao Ling-mei’s Mei Yun Tang collection, which were also included in the show and listed in the brochure. It is also possible that Zhang Daqian gifted this painting to Yao Ke in appreciation of his contribution to the exhibition catalog preface.