From 14 to 25 September, one of the most important works of modern Chinese art, Zhang Daqian's ink-splash masterpiece ‘Giant Lotus’, will be on display at Sotheby's flagship gallery at The Landmark, Central.
Zhang Daqian's ‘Giant Lotus’ can be seen as the artist's manifesto to enter the international painting world. Written in 1960, the painting was made from six sheets of paper from the Qianlong Imperial Reserve, Wu Tianzhang's ink from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and a large studio specially built for him, with no expense spared. The painting is three metres high and eight metres wide, which is the artist's largest work in size. In the painting, the green lotus diffuse lake catching the sky, with the wind, see surging, fluttering momentum, highlighting the bold and unrestrained spirit of its pen.
In the middle of 1961, this painting was first exhibited at the Senucci Museum of Asian Art in Paris, ‘Giant Lotus - Zhang Daqian's Masterpiece’, which was a great success and a sensation in the Western art world, and Daqian was even more ‘famous in the world’ after this. Invitations for exhibitions came pouring in, and at the end of the same year, he participated in the ‘Biennial Art Exhibition’ in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and in 1963, he resumed his first solo exhibition in the United States, which was held at the Adler Gallery in New York City, and was again a great success, and was purchased by Reader's Digest in the United States at a record price of $140,000 USD. In 1982, he was released from Sotheby's in New York and transferred to the collection of ‘Mending Clumsy Zhai’, where he was never shown again. After touring through Europe, North and South America for sixty years, the work is now being shown in Asia for the first time.
‘From conception to creation, the artist left many precious first-hand photographs and written records by his friends, allowing the audience to understand the artist's creative mind and reflecting the special significance and importance of the works.’ -Cheuk Man Yip, Head of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, Sotheby's
The whole process of the artist's creation of the giant ink and lotus panels was commissioned to a photojournalist and close friend, Wang Yi, who later described in detail how he witnessed the artist's painting of the six panels in his book, My Friend Zhang Daqian:
‘One afternoon, Mr Daqian rolled up the sleeves of the short shirt, will be ground ink, a bowl of a bowl of pouring on the paper, it seems very scary, I look at the side of the fear, can not imagine how to deal with the ink splash, after the studio door will be locked, no one is allowed to enter the move, let it dry naturally, these jobs are only half an hour or so, Mr Daqian that went downstairs to hold a tea cup with a cover to drink tea alone. Cup of tea alone, he did not speak, closed his eyes in deep thought, I can see that the mind is very heavy, the original he was planning how to deal with him just splashed those ink clusters. ...... so for a few days in a row, still can't see anything, only see the new carpet on the east a piece of ink stains, west a bunch of pigment water stains, Mr Daqian does not care about these, just focus on those rice paper than painting. A few days later, Mrs Zhang and Pao Luo will be the ink group of rice paper one by one lifted to the painting table, Mr Daqian and the brush will be connected to each of the ink group, plus the lotus flower one by one embellished up, and six pieces of rice paper put together, it is really a composition of a complete picture of the giant lotus. ......
When the painting was finished, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Mrs Zhang said, ‘Next time you paint a big picture like this, you'd better order a machine to grind the ink! It doesn't hurt at all to see you pouring down the ink bowl after bowl, but you don't know how hard it is for the ink grinders. It's really hard to bear the sin of having to grind the ink so hard that your hands are sore and your heart is hairy. ......
After the completion of the work, Mr Daqian resumed his usual look and continued to display his dragon doorway. I observed his old man from the sidelines, he had lost at least five kilograms of weight and his beard had gone quite white. However, his pleasant mood compensated for the hard work of these days.’
Zhang Daqian's close friend, veteran journalist Huang Genius in the book ‘Zhang Daqian's second half of life’, also recorded the artist's feelings after the sale of this picture:.
‘Daqian went on to explain to me that the purpose of his painting of The Giant Lotus was not to sell it for money, but mainly to introduce traditional Chinese ink painting to foreigners overseas; and that the painting of such a large painting was to draw the attention and attention of Westerners. The Giant Lotus has already been exhibited in Europe, North and South America, all of them are very sensational, and received favourable comments, he is very happy ...... Chinese traditional ink painting in the Western art world is considered to be a breath of fresh air ......’.
Zhang Daqian The Giant Lotus, six panels, ink and colour on paper,
vertical scroll Executed in 1960,
inscribed in ink and brush of Zhang Daqian, Shu Ren, 358 x 793.4 cm
Exhibition:
Paris, Musée des Arts Asiatiques de Senucci, The Giant Lotus - Zhang Daqian's Masterpieces, 17 May - 19 June 1961
Brazil, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de São Paulo, Sixth Biennial Art Exhibition, September-December 1961
New York, Herschel Adler Gallery, ‘Zhang Daqian Exhibition’, 22 October - 2 November 1963
Sotheby's Signature Gallery
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Sunday & Public Holidays | 11am - 6pm
Address: Landmark Chater House, 8 Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
