PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, Taiwan

PUBLISHED:
The Paintings of Chang Da-Chien , National Museum of History, Taipei, 1976, p.89

Landscape of the Summer Hills
ZHANG DAQIAN

The title of a Chinese ink master is not given according to their abilities to copy ancient pieces, but their ability to create tremendous artworks based on careful observations of the old and new, reaching standards set by previous masters and establishing new milestones in art history. Zhang Daqian is undoubtedly one of them and his talent was fully demonstrated in his Splashed Ink Art (Pomo).

Splashed Ink Landscape Art was first appeared in Tang Dynasty by Wang Qia and later in Northern Song Dynasty by Mi Fei. Though with a different composition, Mi promoted the concept of Misty Mountains (Yunshan) that landscape was expressed by an impression and not in detail. With an admiration to Mi, Zhang once said:

Mi further developed Wang's pomo and established a technique called Yunshan. It is deplorable that 600 years since in Ming and Qing Dynasty, no one ever trespassed this boundary. - Extract from the inscription of "Rain and Mountain" by Zhang Daqian (1979). After his stay in the US and Europe in 1965, Zhang explored Splashed Ink Art (Pocai).

Having this aim to further develop Splashed Art, Zhang integrated the spirit of Abstraction in Western Art and the Splashed Ink techniques used by Chinese ink masters. With strict control over humidity and ink application, Zhang created his painting with enough depth, overlooking the distant cottages, and an elusive haze, making this painting a majestic masterpiece.