Pavilions on Emerald Hills

Zhang Daqian first visited the United States in early 1953. From his home in Argentina, he travelled to New York, where he rejoiced in reuniting with his good friends C. C. Wang (1907- 2003) and Wang Jiyuan (1893-1975). His first significant North American exhibition took place at New York’s Hirschl & Adler Galleries a decade after his first visit. By the mid-1960s, Zhang Daqian’s ground-breaking splashed colour and ink landscapes resonated with the United States’ sophisticated audience. In the summer of 1967, he held two landmark exhibitions in California - an academic show at Stanford University and a commercial show at Laky Gallery. From August to September of 1967, Zhang Daqian organised an exhibition with friends and fellow artists at The Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin. The present lot was one of the exhibits and was the first of Zhang’s paintings illustrated in the exhibition catalogue.

Similar to Zhang’s splashed ink works from the mid to late 1960s, Pavilion on Emerald Hills is abstract in composition and furnished with minimal architectural elements. The choice of a specially-made patterned paper enabled Zhang to glide and blend water, ink and colour on the paper surface before they were absorbed. Rich in colours and layers, the present lot embodies a strong sense of eastern aesthetics, an exceptional work to celebrate the artist’s first visit to the state of Wisconsin.