Zhang Daqian

or Chang Ta-ch'ien

(born May 10, 1899, Neijiang, Sichuan province, China—died April 2, 1983, Taipei, Taiwan) Chinese painter and collector. As a young man, he meticulously studied and copied the works of ancient masters; he gained notoriety in Shanghai for his forgeries. Zhang extended his career to the north in the late 1920s, when he became active in the cultural circles of Beijing. He began to collaborate with the well-known Beijing painter Pu Xinyu, and together they became known as “South Zhang and North Pu.” In 1940 Zhang led a group of artists to the caves of Mogao and Yulin for the purpose of copying their Buddhist wall paintings. The group completed over 200 paintings, and the experience left Zhang with a repository of religious imagery. During this period he became particularly known for his lotus paintings, inspired by works from the Tang-Song era. Zhang left China in the early 1950s and traveled throughout the world. He developed eye problems in the late 1950s, and, as his eyesight deteriorated, he developed his mature splashed-colour (pocai) style. His work in this style fetched the highest market prices for contemporary Chinese paintings at international auctions of the time.

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