ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)

NOTE:
The poem inscribed on the painting was inspired by a composition by Qu Dajun, a renowned Guangdong scholar during the Qing dynasty, in which he praises the impressive scenery of Mount Lu. In the painting, the peaks rise one after another as if piercing the clouds, and the hanging waterfalls resemble white silk. The trees at the foot of the mountain are lush and dense. Although Zhang Daqian had never visited Mount Lu, he reinterpreted Qu Dajun’s poem to paint the landscape from his imagination. Zhang Daqian combined the splashed ink technique and traditional brushwork to create this work in 1962—the very year when he gradually shifted towards the splashed ink technique, as evidenced in his carefree brushworks and his bold and unrestrained style.
This painting belonged to a private collector in the United States. The collector went to Zhang Daqian’s exhibition in New York in 1963 and was so impressed by his work that he purchased several paintings. He eventually became friends with Zhang Daqian and later received several works from the artist as gifts. Signed “Waterfall, No. 22,” the title slip corresponds to work No.22 in the 1963 New York exhibition catalogue, though the image was not illustrated.