Chang Dai-chien Imitating the Ancients

     Chang Dai-chien's goal in painting during the first half of his career was to achieve a "grand synthesis" of previous styles, taking the imitation of ancient works as a foundation for reaching it. He began with such seventeenth-century artists of the late Ming and early Qing period as Shitao, Bada shanren, and Zhang Feng. Later, as the scope of his interest in collecting and vision expanded, Chang reached back stylistically to masters of the Five Dynasties, Song, and Yuan periods. He also went so far as to travel to Dunhuang in northwestern Gansu and learn by copying the Tang dynasty and other early wall paintings there, further broadening his experiences in traditional Chinese art. As a result, he was able to balance training in the scholar arts with that of so-called craftsman painting, coming to excel at both ink and light colors as well as fine brushwork with heavy colors. Due to his study of many diverse artistic traditions, Chang Dai-chien was always capable of injecting a surprising sense of innovation, even into his imitations of ancient works. This section of the exhibition brings together works by Chang and previous masters, not only providing a glimpse at the diverse origins of his art, but also demonstrating the importance of "copying" in the formation of his style. Moreover, it demonstrates the new heights of creativity that he reached in various subjects. The works here include Dong Yuan's "Late Scenery Along a Riverbank," which entered Chang Dai-chien's Ta-feng Hall collection in 1946 and had an enormous impact on him. It also features Chang's "Imitation of Shen Zhou's Hollyhocks," representing a rare example of his study on this important Ming literati master.