Capturing light and shadow: moving images of Zhang Daqian’s Autumn Lotus in creation

History captured on film

In 1956, at a Japanese inn outside Tokyo, Zhang Daqian—dressed in a flowing robe, his long beard cascading down his chest—took up his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to paint with unhurried grace. As the ink flowed, his brush moved with commanding freedom, the composition gradually unfolding until a lotus scene in the mogu (boneless) manner took shape. From the first touch to the final seal, the complete creative process of this master artist was captured on film—an exceedingly rare moment in art history.

This footage was made during an exceptionally productive year for Zhang Daqian. Throughout that year, he toured the exhibition ‘Chang Dai-chien Dunhuang Cave Mural Studies’ across three cities in Asia and Europe—Tokyo in April, Paris from June to July, and Osaka from November to December. In June, he held a solo exhibition of his new works at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, and in the same year he met Pablo Picasso in Nice. By this time, Zhang was approaching a major artistic peak and rising as an international star. Having settled in Brazil only a few years earlier, he was entering a period of significant artistic transformation, gradually shifting from meticulous brushwork to increasingly abstract forms in his later years.

Autumn Lotus born before the camera

The rising international artist soon attracted the attention of the eminent Hong Kong filmmaker Chu Shu-hwa (1906–1988), widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the early cinematic history of Mainland China and Hong Kong. Spanning a multifaceted career, he was active as a screenwriter, director, studio manager, and international film distributor. In 1945, he co-founded the Great China Film Company, followed by the Yung Hwa Motion Picture Industries Ltd in 1948. He continued to work independently and collaborated with studios such as Shaw Brothers. Among his directorial works, The Golden Phoenix (1956) and The Nobody’s Child (1960) became classics, setting box office records and earning widespread acclaim.

Chu Shu-hwa met Zhang Daqian in 1956 and was immediately struck by his artistic talent and his rapidly expanding international reputation. Eager to document this pivotal moment in Zhang’s career, he proposed producing a documentary film devoted to the artist and his exhibition of Dunhuang mural studies. Later that same year, Chu, together with his crew and Zhang Daqian’s long-term friend Kao Ling-mei, travelled to Japan, where they filmed Zhang at an inn outside Tokyo. The documentary included footage of the Dunhuang exhibits, leisurely scenes of Zhang relaxing in the garden with his gibbon and family, and a realtime demonstration showing him painting a lotus flower in ink.

During the filming, Chu arranged for Zhang Daqian to paint a lotus flower using the mogu (boneless) technique. The demonstration took place in a grand hall of the inn, where Zhang selected his six-scroll fine-brush lotus painting as the backdrop behind his painting table. Zhang was assisted by his wife Hsu Wenpo, who stood by his side, and by another assistant who helped pull the paper as he progressed with the painting. In just a few minutes, he transformed a six-foot sheet of blank paper into a vivid and dynamic lotus composition, inscribing a seven-character poem and finishing it with one of his seals. Although Chu never completed the documentary, the surviving footage became the first colour moving images of Zhang Daqian painting—an invaluable historical and educational record offering rare insight into his creative process. It documents the artist’s physical movements, his habitual gestures, the way he held his brush, the fluid strokes with which he rendered the broad lotus leaves, and the moment he applied his signature.

The legacy carried forward

Chu Shu-hwa received the painting from Zhang Daqian as a gift after the filming, and it has remained with the Chu family ever since. In 2024, the original 1956 footage was digitally restored by Chu’s son, John Chu, himself a Hong Kong–based media entrepreneur and film producer. Thanks to this restoration, future generations can continue to experience the film and gain insight into the artist’s working process. Portions of the restored footage were later featured in the recent documentary on Zhang Daqian, Of Color and Ink, directed by Weimin Zhang.

A fine ink painting and a film that traces its becoming—together they illuminate one another, revealing how Zhang Daqian’s art comes to life. This spring, this rare footage of the master at work will be presented for the first time alongside Autumn Lotus—the very painting born before the camera—at Christie’s Hong Kong Chinese Paintings auction at The Henderson. Christie’s is deeply honoured to present this inseparable pair—the footage and the painting—together, offering collectors an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire not only a finished masterpiece by Zhang Daqian, but also the cinematic record capturing the moment of its creation.

Christie’s extends its heartfelt gratitude to Mr John Chu for his trust in entrusting this important treasure—one that intertwines family memory with profound art-historical significance—to the auction. Mr Chu has carried forward his father’s dedication to the art of film, featured as one of the ‘50 Stars of Asia’ by Business Week, awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star, an honor conferred by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive and most recently, he has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony, for which we offer our warmest congratulations. May this remarkable legacy, uniting the beauty of painting, the resonance of film, and the dedication of two generations, continue to shine in its next chapter.