In addition to being a painter, Zhang Daqian was also a collector of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in the 20th century. The author believes that he can even be called "the six masters of calligraphy and painting collection in the 20th century" together with Pang Laichen, Zhang Boju, Wu Hufan, Zhang Congyu, and Wang Jiqian.
Self-raised Tibetan funds for the first time to appreciate the eight major Shitao
Because there are not many treasures left by his ancestors, Zhang Daqian's collection of ancient calligraphy and paintings mainly depends on the economic income obtained from selling paintings, and the collection of paintings is also to better "learn from the ancients". Zhang Daqian was originally influenced by Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing, and preferred to buy works by Shi Tao and Zhu Qi. In his later years, Zhang Daqian once told a friend that he had about 500 pieces of Shi Tao's original works at the most, and Mr. Fu Shen of the United States said in "Daqian and Shi Tao": "Daqian is the connoisseur who has ever seen and collected the most Shi Tao's paintings, and it is definitely not an exaggeration. ”
Of course, Daqian's research on the works of the Bada and Shi Tao is also quite in place, especially his life and the use of ink, brush, composition, paper, seals, inscriptions, painting themes, calligraphy and even friendship in each period. Connoisseur Wang Jiqian once said that he could only go to the "seventh floor" when he saw Shi Tao and the Eighth Grade, but after accepting Zhang Daqian's allocation, he was promoted to the "ninth floor". During the Republic of China, Daqian's forgery deceived Huang Binhong, Luo Zhenyu, Chen Banding, Cheng Linsheng and many other experts, and left many anecdotes. Zhu Xingzhai (1901-1970), a broker and collector during the Republic of China, believes that in the modern and contemporary connoisseurship circles, it is extremely rare to be able to identify the authenticity of Zhang Daqian's "high-quality" Shi Tao's works. Many modern and contemporary connoisseurs are looking away in front of Zhang Daqian's "high imitation", which is not because the discriminator is incompetent, but because Zhang Daqian's imitation level is at its peak. In fact, Zhang Congyu (1914-1963) and Zhu Xingzhai had the same view, he once predicted: "Zhang Daqian has no ancients before the pseudo-ancients, and there is no one today", and said to Cao Datie (Daqian's disciple) that all collectors who like to collect Shi Tao and the Eight Great Treasures should be especially careful.
Shi Tao, Fanren Autumn Hunting, Zhang Daqian's Old Collection, 2010 Poly Spring Auction, was sold for 32.48 million yuan
In particular, it is worth mentioning that Zhang Daqian is the person who really transformed the orientation of Shi Tao and the Eight Masters into the artistic trend of the time. This trend swept away the stale situation in the art world at that time, and directly influenced a number of painters such as Qi Baishi, Fu Baoshi, Li Keran, Pan Tianshou, Xiao Qianzhong, Shi Lu, Li Kuchan, Zhu Qizhan, Shen Zicheng, Ding Yanyong, and Lai Chusheng. The late art historian Yu Jianhua, a witness to this trend, made a strong proof in "Chinese Painting in the Past Seventy-five Years": "Since Zhang Shanzi and Zhang Daqian, who were from Shu, came to Shanghai, they have highly respected Shi Tao and the Eight Great Songs, searched for posthumous works, and spared no effort...... As a result, the paintings of Shi Tao and the Eight Great Masters began to be valued. The value is rising, the scholars are increasing, almost every family is Shitao, and everyone is eight. Even the kinds, such as Stone Creek, Qushan, and Half a Thousand, are all worth a lot. ”
In addition to Shi Tao and Bada, Zhang Daqian was not soft at all when collecting other ancient masterpieces, and spent a lot of money. An anecdote mentions that when Zhang Daqian was 28 years old (1926), he "mingled" with a group of old people in Shanghai, and they often got together to play "playing the poetry bell", a literati game in which "elegant bets" were made by guessing poetry riddles. In a gamble, Zhang Daqian lost to the maritime literati Jiang Zichen, and in order to offset the gambling money of 1,200 taels of gold, he reluctantly took out the "Cao'e Tablet" (originally collected by the Qing Dynasty, and there are 7 ink blots in the Tang Dynasty alone in the inscription on the painting). This also reflects the strength of Zhang Daqian's assets from one side. Later, this work was obtained by Ye Gongqiu, which has a touching scene of Ye Gongqiu's generous return of treasures, good horses and Daqian kowtowing and thanking.
Zhu Qi, Songlu, Zhang Daqian's Collection, Christie's Hong Kong 2014 Autumn Auction, which sold for HK$9.04 million
Guanghui art friends spend a lot of money for Tibetan paintings
After the 30s of the last century, Zhang Daqian was no longer satisfied with learning the painting art of Shi Tao, Bada, Shi Xi, Tang Yin and others, but traced back to the Song and Yuan dynasties, as Fu Shen said, "bloody war with the ancients". Because Pang Laichen, Wu Hufan, Pu Xinji, Ye Gongxuan, Zhou Xiangyun and other friends have a lot of famous relics of the Song and Yuan dynasties, Zhang Daqian is not willing to fall behind in the collection.
In 1936, when Xu Beihong wrote the comment "A Thousand in the Past 500 Years" in the preface of "Zhang Daqian's Paintings", Zhang Daqian said: "Xu Beihong said that I am the first person to paint in 500 years, I dare not be, if I want to say that I am the first connoisseur in 500 years, it is none other than me." "Zhang Daqian loves to paint, searching endlessly, sometimes in order to buy a piece of ancient masterpieces, he does not hesitate to pay for it. Once the Peking calligraphy and painting brokers learned that Daqian had appraised calligraphy and paintings in Beijing Liulichang, they would rush to line up and ask him to appraise them. The broker was also happy to trade with him, because trading with the bold and wealthy Daqian was often very profitable, and Daqian also gained a lot of ancient famous deeds from it. It is no wonder that some antique dealers in Beijing Liuli Factory believe that ordinary painters are "eaten" by Liuli Factory, and only Zhang Daqian can "eat" Liuli Factory, which shows its great energy in Beiping. By 1938, after Daqian escaped from the Hukou in Beiping, he took great pains to transport about 200 ancient paintings stored in Beiping to Chengdu. In the early 40s of the 20th century, his collection of ancient calligraphy and paintings was already considerable, and he once ordered his sons and nephews to compile a batch of calligraphy and paintings into a "Dafengtang Picture Catalogue", and memorized the size of the inscription in detail. Among them, there are 8 paintings by Bi Hong, Wen Huzhou, Yi Yuanji and other Tang and Song dynasty masters, 17 paintings by Zhao Mengfu, Mei Daoren, Huang Gongwang, Wang Meng and other Yuan people, 40 Shi Tao, and 31 paintings of Bada, a total of 194 pieces.
In 1944, he held the "Zhang Daqian Collection of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphy Exhibition" in Chengdu, which was very sensational to the audience. A total of more than 170 pieces of fine works of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties are exhibited, including masterpieces by Juran, Su Dongpo, Zhao Mengfu, Huang Gongwang, Wen Zhengming, Shen Zhou, Tang Yin, Qiu Ying, Chen Laolian, Bada Shanren, Shi Tao and so on. Feng Ruofei gave Daqian with "the rich can rival the country, and the poor have no cone", and added eight characters after the Daqian view: "One body is a debt, and the shelves are full of treasures".
Dong Yuan, Xiaoxiang, 50cm×141.4cm, Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Daqian used his connections in the antique industry to purchase the famous relics of the palace from the famous antique dealers Su Yongqian, Zhao Panfu, Xiao Jingting, Jin Bosheng, Zhou Dianhou, Ma Jichuan, Ma Baoshan and others. Zhang Boju once spent 230 taels of gold (selling Li Lianying's villa to Fu Jen University, equivalent to 21,000 US dollars, plus his wife Pan Su's gold and silver jewelry) to buy Zhan Ziqian's "Spring Tour" in the Sui Dynasty, which was already an incredible sky-high price, and Daqian used 500 taels of gold and 20 Ming paintings to exchange for Dong Yuan's "Evening View of the River Embankment" from a Kuomintang officer; and used 700 taels of gold to buy Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai's Night Banquet", Dong Yuan's "Xiaoxiang Picture", and Song Ren's "Endless Picture Scroll of Streams and Mountains" from Beiping Yuchi Mountain House (boss Ma Jichuan), Song Ren's "Gunma Picture", Yuan Qian Shunju's "Ming Concubine on the Horse", Yao Tingmei's "Spare Leisure Picture", Zhou Di's "Tongguan Autumn Color Picture", Ming Shen Shitianlin's "Tongguan Autumn Color Picture", Yao Yundong's "Miscellaneous Paintings" and other 9 famous works.
Among them, Zhang Daqian successively invited Pu Xinji, Pang Laichen, Ye Gongxuan, Wu Hufan, Xie Zhiliu and others to appreciate the "Evening View of the River Embankment", and made inscriptions, and also stamped the painting with a collection stamp that is rarely used in ordinary times, such as "Treasure to Treasure", "Treasure of Daqian", "Zhang's Treasure", "Ball Treasure Map", "Flesh and Blood", "North, South, East and West Only Follow Each Other Without Separation", which shows the supreme status of this masterpiece in his mind. This work was bequeathed to the "National Palace Museum" in Taipei. After he got Dong Yuan's "Xiaoxiang Picture", he immediately invited Fang Jiekan and other friends to come to his home to enjoy it, and changed the name of the house to "Xiaoxiang Painting Building". Fang Jiekan seal "Xiaoxiang Painting Building" ivory seal to congratulate. The seal is a bird and insect body, Zhu Wen, the lines are dense and strict, the contrast between movement and stillness is clear, and the rhyme of the Han seal is passed by, it is the masterpiece of Fang Jiekan's life. In 2007, this seal was auctioned by the Xiling Seal Society, and was warmly sought after, and was finally purchased by the painter Ren Zhong for 990,000 yuan, setting the highest price for the seal at that time.
Interestingly, during Daqian's stay in the mainland, he did not buy any real estate, and once when he saw the villa of the Prince's Mansion in Beiping, he happened to meet the fifth generation of Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai's Night Banquet". In Daqian's view, the house may not be sold, and it can be bought in the future, but if the painting is missed, there will be no chance, so he bought this masterpiece of the world. After Daqian went to China in 1949, in order to find a place to live, he had to sell a lot of calligraphy and paintings, including "Han Xizai's Night Banquet", "Xiaoxiang Picture", Fang Congyi's "Wuyi Fangdi Picture" and other more than ten famous relics and some Dunhuang scrolls were sold to mainland cultural relics institutions in the form of half selling and half giving away (20,000 US dollars), Zheng Zhenduo, director of the Cultural Relics Bureau at that time, was ecstatic to learn that the price of these genuine paintings and calligraphy was so low.
Li Cheng, Riding a Donkey in the Cold Forest, 162cm×100.4cm, Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Overseas paintings and collections are all legends
In the construction of the "Bade Garden" in Brazil, the purchase of "Can Live" and "Huan Xian Nunnery" in the United States, and the construction of the "Maya Essence House" in Taiwan, Zhang Daqian traveled throughout Europe, Asia and America in the second half of his life, and his living expenses were extremely high. In particular, in 1953, he spent $200,000 to buy 220 acres of land in Brazil's "Bade Garden", and the overall cost of building the garden was as high as 2.8 million US dollars. Regarding Zhang Daqian's income, Taiwanese reporter Huang Tiancai summed up three major sources: abundant savings, processing income such as appraisal, repair and withdrawal of newly purchased ancient paintings and calligraphy, and income from the trading of ancient paintings and calligraphy.
Zhang Daqian once went to the United States to inspect the art market, and he found that American collectors were very interested in ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting, so he relied on his unique vision and connections to buy ancient calligraphy and paintings in Hong Kong and Japan.
Due to the economic downturn, a large number of national treasures of Japanese calligraphy and painting were able to flow to the market after the war. In addition to the familiar antique dealers who provided Zhang Daqian with collections, Zhang Daqian also showed his skills in the Japanese Tibetan community with his bold character, profound education, and accurate eyesight. As long as it is a work of art that he can see, he will be generous and make a name for himself in the Japanese antique world. At that time, the hotel where Zhang Daqian lived had to receive several batches of antique dealers who sent calligraphy and paintings to see every day, as long as he liked it, he immediately left it after asking the price, even if he couldn't see one, Daqian still offered 2 US dollars for transportation, which was not a small amount in those years. Since 1954, Zhang Daqian has been watching and buying paintings in Japan for 12 or 13 consecutive years.
Not only that, relying on Japan's sophisticated framing technology, many of Zhang Daqian's collections have been renewed. Before 1949, he joined forces with Zhou Longchang, a heavily hired framer, to not only repair ancient paintings, but also produce many fake and authentic works. In Japan, Zhang Daqian befriended the framer Meguro three times, and one of the most famous cases of ancient painting restoration is to give a new look to the dilapidated Dong Yuan's "Picture of the Riverbank". However, what is surprising is that "The Picture of the Creek Bank" has sparked a great controversy in the world, with experts such as Wang Jiqian believing that it is genuine, Gao Juhan and others believing that it is a game made by Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, and Xie Zhiliu, and that it is a forgery of Zhang Daqian, and some experts believe that it is an imitation of the Five Dynasties or the Song Dynasty, which makes the truth behind the controversy of "The Picture of the Creek Bank" even more confusing.