Zhang DaQian (Chinese, 1899-1983), dated in the tenth month of DengChou year, Chinese watercolor painting on paper. A presented paintings as gifts to General Chen"CangQuan" Hand painted in bright and bold color with splash of gilt, in variegate tones and shades, depicted sages and nobleman seeking for Tao within the hill rock outcrop and tress against waterside misty mountains landscape. With themed calligraphy lettering inscriptions, followed with artist's signature and iron-red seals.
Mounted on pale-creme silk border, set behind glass and wooden framed.

Dimension: 55-1/2" L x 21" W

PROVENANCE:
From the collection of General Chen Qi (陳淇) (1912-2000), who styled himself as “Cangquan” (滄泉）and “Yuquanshanren”（玉泉山人), an artist, calligrapher, a prominent businessman and private antiques collector.
EDEN Fine Antiques Galleries is honored and proud to offer General Chen Qi's heirloom collections including unpublished Qi BaiShi paintings, Fu BaoShi, Zhang DaQian as well as his own calligraphy and paintings.
General Chen Qi's collections can be found on Lot 17, 18, 19, 20, and Lot-88 through Lot-142, continuing at Lot 265 through Lot-298.
For more information about General Chen Qi's Biography, please refer to provenance information at Lot 103.

LOT NOTES:

Zhang DaQian (1899-1983), original name Zhang Yuan and pseudonym DaQian, was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. He is also regarded by many art experts as one of the most gifted master forgers of the twentieth century. He excelled at all types of paintings, and is especially famous for his landscape, as well as lotus paintings. As a child, Zhang DaQian was encouraged by his family to pursue painting.
In 1917 his elder brother, Zhang Shanzi (an artist famous for his tiger paintings), accompanied him to Kyoto, Japan, to study textile dyeing. Two years later, Zhang DaQian went to Shanghai to receive traditional painting instruction from two famous calligraphers and painters of the time, Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing. Through his association with these teachers, Zhang had the opportunity to study some works by ancient masters in detail.
His early style attempted to emulate the Ming-Qing Individualists, including Tang Yin, Chen Hongshou , and Shitao. He meticulously studied and copied their works and began to make forgeries; his paintings after Shitao successfully deceived some of the best connoisseurs.
After his early success in Shanghai, 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 the South Zhang and North Pu, an epithet that is still used to refer to their collaborative works of the 1930s.
In 1940 Zhang DaQian 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 the Sino-Japanese War, the artist zealously studied traditional Tang-Song figure painting and ancient monumental landscape painting. His love of tradition was also reflected in his personal collection of ancient Chinese paintings, which he began early in his career. At its peak, his collection contained several hundred works from the Tang to Qing dynasties.
In reaction to the political climate in 1949, Zhang left China in the early 1950s. He resided in various places, including Mendoza, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Carmel, California. His meeting with Pablo Picasso in 1956 in Nice, France, was publicized as an artistic meeting between East and West. Zhang DaQian developed eye problems in the late 1950s. As his eyesight deteriorated, he developed his mature splashed color (pocai) style. Although he attributed this style in part to the splashed-ink technique of the ancient painter Wang Mo (also known as Wang Qia , many believe it to be related to that of the Abstract Expressionist movement then popular in the United States and a departure from that of his traditional paintings.
Zhang's splashed-color paintings fetched the highest market prices for contemporary Chinese paintings at international auctions of the time. In 1978 the artist settled in Taipei, Taiwan. His residence, Moye Jingshe, next to the National Palace Museum, is now the Memorial Museum of Zhang DaQian.

Over all in EXCELLENT Condition. Natural imperfection on the medium (paper or silk), regardless from any major damages; includes light blooms, discoloration and minor fading. Consider normal due to the ages.
The bidder assumes responsibility for ensuring that the condition of the item(s) meets with their satisfaction prior to bidding. Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, and is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. EDEN Galleries shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging.