Zhang Daqian’s Splashed-Ink Landscape Hanging Scroll

Title:Zhang Daqian’s Splashed-Ink Landscape Hanging Scroll

Artist: Zhang Daqian

Provenance: Formerly held in a Japanese family collection

Current Location: Japan MUFJ Bank Vault

Market Valuation: $15,000,000 – $25,000,000 USD

Valuation Rationale:

Zhang Daqian is widely regarded as one of the most celebrated and sought-after artists in the global art market in recent years. At the Hong Kong Spring Auctions in April 2024, ten of his works achieved a total sales volume of HKD 194.2 million, making him the top-selling artist of the season. Notably, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2016, his masterpiece Peach Blossom Spring (Taoyuan Tu) fetched an extraordinary HKD 240 million, a testament to the lasting allure and value of his art.

The current offering—an ink-splash landscape on golden paper—is a quintessential example of Zhang’s mastery. With a composition that seamlessly merges meticulous technique and expressive brushwork, it reflects the full range of his artistic brilliance and ranks among his finest creations.

【Essential Information】

Dimensions: 130 cm × 63.5 cm (painting); 230 cm × 78 cm (with mounting)

Material: Gold-flecked paper (Jin jian paper)

Format: Vertical hanging scroll

【Inscriptions】

“I once admired Ziyun’s lofty air and ancient flair,

And lately marveled at Chen Fu’s startling words.

Who might convey such wondrous landscapes—

In scattered ink, the vastness breathes, and chaos births the truth.”

— Zhang Daqian, February, 1973 (age 74)

【Seals】

1. Zhang Yuan's Seal——张爰之印

2. Daqian——大千  

3. Daqian Fu (Father Daqian)——大千父

【Description of the Artwork】

This masterpiece, rendered on gold-flecked paper, exemplifies Zhang Daqian’s mature splashed-ink and splashed-color style. The painting presents a grand and radiant vision of green-blue landscapes, combining traditional brushwork with bold, expressive washes of ink and color. Rather than rejecting classical techniques, Zhang harmoniously fuses them with his avant-garde methods. The result is a sublime image of mist-laden mountains, where ink and color interweave to create depth, luminosity, and ethereal form.

Large fields of azurite blue, malachite green, and ink dominate the composition, forming the painting’s visual core. Around these dynamic color blocks, from foreground to distant peaks, Zhang applies refined traditional brushwork to depict rocks, trees, small bridges, waterfalls, and rivers. The lines are fluid and succinct, with ink washes modulated to achieve both strength and softness.

In the lower right, two small boats drift gently along the river—an intimate human touch amidst the grandeur of nature. Their presence, delicately rendered, anchors the viewer in the scene and evokes a moment of tranquil leisure. The use of points, lines, and planes, together with techniques such as splashing, texturing, rubbing, and shading, showcases Zhang’s mastery of both tradition and innovation. His painting is at once exuberant and contemplative—a joyous outpouring of color and a profound meditation on the spirit of landscape.

The work captures the essence of Daoist natural philosophy: to express form through formlessness, and to seek harmony between man and nature. As the artist himself alludes in his poetic inscription, the true spirit of landscape lies not in meticulous detail but in the “vast chaos of inspired strokes.”

【Background of the Artwork】

Created in 1973, when Zhang Daqian was 74 years old, this piece represents the peak of his splashed-color style. By this time, his eyesight had deteriorated significantly, yet he still devoted meticulous care to painting the two small boats at the scroll’s bottom—a lively touch that enlivens the bold, abstract upper composition.

Zhang’s inscription reflects his artistic philosophy: though the strokes may seem wild and spontaneous, they are infused with deliberate intention. His mastery of ink and color had by then reached an unparalleled level, yielding misty, dreamlike vistas that are at once grand and poetic. The dynamic blending of ink and pigment adds depth, motion, and vitality, bringing forth a landscape that breathes and pulses between reality and illusion. In this way, the painting evokes the “life-force” of nature and exemplifies the aesthetic ideal of “emptiness within fullness”—a hallmark of classical Chinese thought.

【About the Artist】

Zhang Daqian (1899–1983), born in Neijiang, Sichuan, originally named Zhang Zhengquan, later changed to Zhang Yuan, with the courtesy names Daqian and Daqian Jushi, by which he is best known. Taught by his mother from an early age in the fine-line depiction of birds and insects, Zhang later studied painting in Kyoto, Japan, alongside textile and dyeing arts. After returning to China, he delved into Buddhist studies and briefly became a monk under the dharma name Dagan, later returning to secular life but retaining the name.

Zhang was a master of traditional Chinese painting, particularly in lotus flowers and fine-line figure painting, developing a distinctive personal style that reached extraordinary refinement. He and Qi Baishi were regarded as the twin giants of modern Chinese painting—“Zhang of the South, Qi of the North.”

In the 1950s, Zhang moved abroad, living for 17 years in Brazil before relocating to Taiwan in 1976. A consummate artist, he excelled in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal carving. Most notably, he pioneered the splashed-ink and splashed-color landscape style, reinvigorating Chinese painting and securing his legacy as one of China’s most influential modern artists.