ZHANG DAQIAN (CHANG DAI-CHIEN) 1899-1983 | WATER AND SKY GAZING AFTER RAIN IN SPLASHED COLOR

signed Yuanweng, dated wushen (1968), the seventh lunar month, with two seals of the artist, da qian wei yin da nian, da qian shi jieWith three collectors' seals of the Chew family, qiu yong he yin, wu zhong ying yin, qiu fu lun yin

- Overall in excellent condition except minor creases and dirt due to age.
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There have been countless studies of Zhang Daqian's "splashed color" technique, an original contribution to traditional Chinese painting. Gazing Water and Sky After Rain In Splashed Color was painted in 1968, as Zhang was relocating from Brazil to California. This monumental horizontal scroll is deeper and richer in color than Zhang's later blue-green landscapes, with generous amounts of azurite and malachite concentrated towards the right, and beneath them a layer of dark ink. On the left side of the composition, the sun has emerged after rain. The distant mountains are still enshrouded in a light mist. In the middle ground are verdant trees and an energetic waterfall. In the foreground are a newly clean hut and rich vegetation along mountains rendered in texture strokes that retain the style of Zhang's Brazil period. The light and moist feeling of the left part of the composition contrasts strongly with the dense splashed colors of the right, and responds back to the circular negative space at the top right--an opening in the layers of clouds into the clear distant sky. The composition recalls Su Shi's poem, "Dark clouds, like splashed ink, do not cover the mountains. White rain, like bouncing pearls, invade the boat. Sweeping winds arise and suddenly scatter everything. Viewed from the terrace, the lake is clear like the sky." Perhaps Zhang Daqian had this poem in mind as he created this precious painting, which entered the collection of the China Art Center soon after completion and has not been exhibited or published.