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Lot Essay
Spring Mountains with Lush Greens was created in 1968, marking the culmination of nearly a decade of relentless refinement during which Zhang Daqian’s innovative use of materials and techniques reached maturity. His mastery of ink and splashed color had become effortless by this point. The composition draws inspiration from traditional landscape painting, with towering mountains dominating the scene and extending into the clouds, evoking the grandeur of monumental landscapes from the Northern Song dynasty. Zhang employed heavy applications of azurite and malachite to depict the mountain vegetation, accentuated with cinnabar dots representing red leaves scattered across the slopes. Several pavilions emerge from within the mountain folds, revealing vitality amid serene nature. From the summit to the mid-levels, the colors gradually soften, and Zhang used brushwork to outline forms, creating a translucent effect of mist and clouds enveloping the landscape. At the mountain’s base, where two peaks part and a valley emerges, the vista opens into an expansive view. Zhang continued the mountain contours with bold strokes, adding trees and vegetation in the lower right corner using his signature fine-line texture strokes, skillfully balancing the composition. This piece was executed on a textured paper, especially made to imitate those used in the Song Dynasty. The varying intensities of ink and color, combined with the paper’s distinctive texture, produce a captivating interplay of patterns. This creates a special effect of misty, ethereal clouds—both substantial and illusory—breaking through traditional constraints and material limitations.
The year 1968 marked a significant milestone in Zhang Daqian’s artistic career. Although the artist primarily resided in Brazil during the 1960s, he had already begun to shift his focus to the international art scene, particularly in the United States. This work was created in mid-1968, and just a few months later, from October to December, Zhang held a series of touring exhibitions in New York, Chicago, and Boston, enhancing his international reputation. The inscription notes that the piece was painted at Dafeng Tang, likely completed in the large studio of his Brazilian residence, the Garden of Eight Virtues (Bade Yuan). While based in South America, Zhang closely followed developments in both Eastern and Western art. During this time, he produced a series of large-scale splashed-colour works where the interplay between abstraction and realism, tradition and modernity, reflected his personal circumstances and evolving mindset. Spring Mountains with Lush Greens exemplifies this synthesis, combining spontaneous splashing with meticulous brushwork to embody both tradition and innovation. Within a few years of its completion, the painting was featured in the 1970 Taipei Ya Yun Tang publication Paintings and Calligraphy by Chang Dai-Chien, and was selected as the cover image. It served as a primary introduction of Zhang’s splashed ink and colour technique to the Chinese audience in Taiwan and held exceptional historical and artistic significance.
The year 1968 marked a significant milestone in Zhang Daqian’s artistic career. Although the artist primarily resided in Brazil during the 1960s, he had already begun to shift his focus to the international art scene, particularly in the United States. This work was created in mid-1968, and just a few months later, from October to December, Zhang held a series of touring exhibitions in New York, Chicago, and Boston, enhancing his international reputation. The inscription notes that the piece was painted at Dafeng Tang, likely completed in the large studio of his Brazilian residence, the Garden of Eight Virtues (Bade Yuan). While based in South America, Zhang closely followed developments in both Eastern and Western art. During this time, he produced a series of large-scale splashed-colour works where the interplay between abstraction and realism, tradition and modernity, reflected his personal circumstances and evolving mindset. Spring Mountains with Lush Greens exemplifies this synthesis, combining spontaneous splashing with meticulous brushwork to embody both tradition and innovation. Within a few years of its completion, the painting was featured in the 1970 Taipei Ya Yun Tang publication Paintings and Calligraphy by Chang Dai-Chien, and was selected as the cover image. It served as a primary introduction of Zhang’s splashed ink and colour technique to the Chinese audience in Taiwan and held exceptional historical and artistic significance.