A famous
artist of the world in ChinaY cultural circle of modern and
contemporary time, Mr. Zhang Daqian is also a legendary historical
figure. His uniqueness in the artistic field of the 20th-century China
is not only in his persistent exploration and great achievements and
influence in artistic field, but also in his intricate experiences and
broad stage in his social life participation.
Ever since
1930s, Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi had been renowned with the honored
title- ]hang in the south and Qi in the north, meaning the best
two Chinese painters at the time. Xu Beihong, one of the masters in the
circle of modern Chinese art, once praised Zhang Daqian as 懀he best
painter in recent 500 years. Traveling around the world to make
friends and holding exhibitions, the second half of his life was mainly
spent abroad in promoting Chinese artistic civilization and cultural
exchange between China and the Western countries. He was, in 1958,
proclaimed 孏he Best Contemporary Painter in the World by the
International Fine Arts Association in New York, and awarded gold medal,
winning precious honor for Chinese people.
In his
eighty-four years of life, Zhang Daqian spent almost one-third of his
time overseas. Still he devoted his whole life to art and portrayed his
motherland with brush and paper. Enhanced by splendid landscapes of his
country, he produced many beautiful and unforgettable works of art to
express his love by having inherited the glorious tradition of Chinese
culture and making it in full play. His practice, vigor and effort on a
large number of great paintings have enhanced renovation, development
and prosperity of modern Chinese painting, making a remarkable
contribution to its recognition in the art field of the contemporary
world.
His honor
and prestige is founded on his talent, self-cultivation, broad mind,
vision, and diligent exploration and study all through his life. I would
particularly mention the fact that, at 42 years of age, he was
determined to leave the comfortable life he was living in large cities
for the remote area of Dunhuang to further improve himself by facing
walls in grottoes. In two years and seven months, he copied 276
paintings of frescoes originally done in the Bei Wei period, the Sui
dynasty, the Tang dynasty, and the Five Dynasties (now 183 of his copies
are preserved in the Sichuan Provincial Museum). His efforts in Dunhuang
fresco copying not only helped himself reach a higher level of artistic
attainments, but also made paintings of Dunhuang well introduced and
widely spread in and out of China.
In the
middle of 1900s, Zhang Daqian established close ties to Macau. It
becomes the favorite tale that he was in Macau taking walks in front of
孏he Hall of Kindness, and shopping in the \ing Di Green
Grocery; and he was also here encouraging younger painters with his
濗mpromptu painting, and even entertaining his friends with Sichuan
dishes he cooked by himself.
Today, as
a feast for the cultural circle of Macau in the 21st Century, 孏he
Exhibition of Zhang DaqianY Copies of Dunhuang Frescoes and Seals
Used in Da Feng House is being grandly launched. It is a good
opportunity for Macau artists to view masterpieces, and also a treat in
good taste for Macau citizens and foreign tourists. It is believed that
the Exhibition will help better understood the extensive and profound
Dunhuang fresco art and Zhang Daqian, the great master.
Edmund Ho
Hau-wah, the Chief Executive, and Cui ShiGn (in sound), the head of
the Social and Cultural Department of the Macau Special Administrative
Region (Macau SAR) have repeatedly given instructions 懀o publicize
Chinese culture since Macau returned to the motherland. To carry out
the instructions, Macau Cultural Institute regarded 孏he Exhibition of
Zhang DaqianY Copies of Dunhuang Frescoes and Seals Used in Da Feng
House as one of the effective measures taken. The successful opening
of the Exhibition has also received much support from the people of all
fields. On behalf of the Cultural Institute of Macau Special
Administrative Region, I would extend heart-felt thanks to the Macau
Liaison Office of the Central Government, Sichuan Bureau of Cultural
Relics, and Sichuan Provincial Museum.
Director
Cultural
Institute of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative
Region
Heidi Ho
Zhang
Daqian (1899-1983), whose original name is Zhang Zhengquan, has the
given name Yuan. He styled himself Jiyuan and had the assumed name
Daqian. He was still called Daqian, a lay Buddhist. He is a native of
Neijiang, Sichuan province. Having a great contribution to Chinese
painting art throughout his life, he was a man enjoying many legends. A
giant in modern Chinese painting history, Zhang Daqian was versatile and
brilliant in most techniques and styles of Chinese painting: gongbi
(meticulous brushwork), free sketches, ink-and-wash painting, heavy
coloration, figure painting, paintings of birds and flowers, and
landscape painting. What is more, he indulged and fruitful in poetry,
seal cutting, and calligraphy. Not only did he epitomize the traditional
painting art, but he was a pioneer in blending the ideas and skills of
traditional and modern painting as well.
One of the
few painters who have copied great paintings of the successive dynasties
widely and in large numbers, he composed a glorious masterpiece for
modern art history when, in the spring of 1941, he led his son, his
nephew, and his disciples to make a detailed survey on the frescoes in
grottoes of Dunhuang. In order to explore the source and development of
Chinese painting, he was there for almost three years. He arranged and
marked the caves in Mogao and Yulin Grottoes and found out the
distribution of relics in Dunhuang district. While doing much academic
research, he went out of his way to copy frescoes of past dynasties
including the Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern
Zhou, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Xixia, and Yuan with the total number
of 276.
Mr. Zhang
Daqian strongly emphasized the exploration of traditional value through
imitation. He said, Lt is of vital importance to learn from the
tradition. There is the long tradition of painting art and many great
paintings left behind by our master painters in our country. In
different societies and with the effort of all their lives, they
accumulated much experience. We should learn and master the rich
experience, apply them in practice so that to carry them forward and
gradually form our own style. It is the endeavor for the whole life. It
wonZ do without painstaking effort. It should be stressed that the
process that Mr. Zhang Daqian was copying ancient master painters is the
pursuit of beauty. His three-year exertion before Dunhuang frescoes not
merely helped regain the glory and magnificence in Chinese painting that
had long lost in history, but also restored and carried forward the
grandness of the frescoes in high Tang period, thus opening up and
establishing a fresh style in Chinese painting.
Half a
century has passed, but the charm of Zhang DaqianY artworks endures.
The charm comes from the combination of contained and profound spirit of
the ancient time with unique grandness and heroism. It is characterized
by boundless freshness and deep elegance. Highly valuable, the artworks
now being exhibited in Macau have been selected from the nearly 200
copies of Dunhuang frescoes preserved in Sichuan Provincial Museum.
It is a
good thing that The Exhibition of Zhang DaqianY Copies of Dunhuang
Frescoes is grandly held in Macau. I would, on behalf of Cultural Relics
Bureau of Sichuan and Sichuan Provincial Museum, present our
congratulations for the exhibition. And, meanwhile, I would also extend
my gratitude to the Cultural Bureau and people of all circles in the
Macau Special Administrative Region who have contributed to the success
of the exhibition.
