ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)

Born in Shanghai, Anna Wu Weakland (1924-2014) was encouraged by her father in her ambition to become a scholar of ancient and modern China. At the age of nineteen, she obtained a B.A. from the University of Shanghai and two years later founded her own advertising agency. Seeking further education, Anna Wu journeyed to New York in 1947 to study sociology at Columbia University. While teaching at China Institute in New York, Ms. Wu’s life was redirected when she was asked to translate for artist Wang Yachen (1894-1983). During the next several years, she became acquainted with visiting and resident artists, including Zhang Daqian, and later became his student, and hence collected many Chinese paintings and calligraphy, part of which were offered by Christie’s from 2011 to 2014.