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Lot Essay
Painted in March 1932, the present work is dedicated to ‘Baifu’, Shen Bofu (1862–1946), a native of Fengtian who served as Director of Military Supplies under Zhang Zuolin. During his residence in Beijing in the early 1930s, Zhang Daqian maintained close contacts with members of the Fengtian circle, and the present painting was presented to Shen during this period.
The subject derives from the celebrated Buddhist episode of the celestial maiden scattering flowers in the Vimalakirti Sutra. Zhang playfully reverses the traditional allusion in his inscription, declaring that, his mind being firmly fixed in meditation, the celestial blossoms do not cling to him. The combination of Buddhist imagery and literati wit is characteristic of Zhang’s figure paintings of the 1930s.
Zhang returned to the subject on several occasions. Related versions dated 1933 and 1936 bear the same poetic inscription, while the latter is inscribed by the artist as being ‘after the brushwork of Tang-dynasty wall paintings’. The present work, dated 1932, therefore represents an early stage in Zhang’s exploration of early figure-painting traditions, preceding his celebrated sojourn at Dunhuang. The elegant figure, fluid drapery and restrained palette still retain the refined qualities associated with Ming and Qing paintings of beauties.
The collector’s seal Zhenhai Ma Leshantang zhencang (‘Treasured Collection of the Ma Family’s Leshan Hall, Zhenhai’) indicates that the painting subsequently entered the Leshantang Collection of the Ma family of Zhenhai. The same collection seal has also been recorded on Chinese ceramics, suggesting that the collection extended beyond paintings and calligraphy.
The subject derives from the celebrated Buddhist episode of the celestial maiden scattering flowers in the Vimalakirti Sutra. Zhang playfully reverses the traditional allusion in his inscription, declaring that, his mind being firmly fixed in meditation, the celestial blossoms do not cling to him. The combination of Buddhist imagery and literati wit is characteristic of Zhang’s figure paintings of the 1930s.
Zhang returned to the subject on several occasions. Related versions dated 1933 and 1936 bear the same poetic inscription, while the latter is inscribed by the artist as being ‘after the brushwork of Tang-dynasty wall paintings’. The present work, dated 1932, therefore represents an early stage in Zhang’s exploration of early figure-painting traditions, preceding his celebrated sojourn at Dunhuang. The elegant figure, fluid drapery and restrained palette still retain the refined qualities associated with Ming and Qing paintings of beauties.
The collector’s seal Zhenhai Ma Leshantang zhencang (‘Treasured Collection of the Ma Family’s Leshan Hall, Zhenhai’) indicates that the painting subsequently entered the Leshantang Collection of the Ma family of Zhenhai. The same collection seal has also been recorded on Chinese ceramics, suggesting that the collection extended beyond paintings and calligraphy.