Zhang Shanzi and Zhang Daqian Kunzhong founded the Daqian School of Painting, which is one of the comprehensive painting schools in China. In the 1920s, Zhang Shanzi and Zhang Daqian opened a "Dafeng Hall" in Xichengli, Ximen Road, Shanghai to recruit disciples, preach and teach skills. All the disciples were called "Dafeng Hall disciples". It is different from the "Chang'an Painting School", "Shanghai Painting School", "Beijing-Tianjin Painting School" and other painting methods that do not use ink and splash colors. The painting style of the Dafengtang School all presents a scene of a hundred flowers blooming. It is a A school of Chinese painting that continues to thrive and is passed down from generation to generation.
Like many painters, Zhang Daqian also experienced the road of tracing. In modern times, there are only a few painters like Daqian who have extensively absorbed the nutrients of the ancients. Only by learning from the ancients, learning from recent people, learning from all things, and learning from nature, can he achieve the state of "teaching what is done with one's heart." He learned from the past but did not imitate the past. While inheriting traditional culture, he also thought of innovation. Finally, on the basis of inheriting the tradition, he developed splash-ink and created the art of splash-color and splash-color ink. At the same time, he also improved the texture of traditional Chinese painting rice paper. However, the pioneer of thought is often lonely. In his five-character quatrain "Lotus Pond", there is a sentence "Who will come on this boat after the master returns", which seems to imply that the latecomers will continue on his path.
He spent a lot of time and effort copying ancient masterpieces. In particular, his imitations of Shi Tao and Bada Shanren's works were so lifelike that they were almost real, and thus he took the first step in painting. step. He started writing from Shi Tao in the Qing Dynasty, to Bada Shanren, Chen Hongshou, Xu Wei, etc., and then extensively covered the Ming and Qing dynasties, then to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and finally traced back to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. He singled out representative painters from past dynasties one by one, studied them from near to far, and studied them with great concentration. However, he was not satisfied with these, and he also learned from grotto art and folk art, especially the three years of Dunhuang wall painting, where he copied the murals of the past dynasties and made brilliant achievements. In terms of time span, these murals have gone through the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and other dynasties. For example, many years ago, an ancient painting signed by one of the Four Great Masters of the Yuan Dynasty appeared in the Hong Kong market. It was an "antique painting" by Zhang Daqian, and it sold for a high price of nearly NT$2 million.
In order to test whether his pseudo-ancient works can reach the level of authenticity, he invited famous connoisseurs such as Huang Binhong, Zhang Congyu, Luo Zhenyu, Wu Hufan, Puru, Chen Banding, Ye Gongchuo and famous museum experts from all over the world. Their identification and left many interesting anecdotes. The artistic value and status of Zhang Daqian's many forgeries in the history of Chinese art are even greater than those of the authentic works by ancient famous artists. Many museums around the world now have his forgeries, such as his "Three Hidden Visitors from Wuzhong" collected by the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, and his "Landscape of Stone Tao" and "Landscape of Plum Blossoms" collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, London. The British Museum collects his "Juran Mao Forest and Mountains" and so on.
While studying Shi Tao, Daqian also deeply understood the essence of ancient people’s thoughts and was able to practice them personally. Zhang Daqian said: "What do the ancients mean by 'reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles'? Because knowledge and knowledge must be gained from actual observation, not just books alone, the two must complement each other. Famous mountains and rivers , If you are familiar with it, and you have the hills and valleys in your mind, you will naturally have a basis for writing. Only by experiencing a lot can you gain something. Mountains and rivers are like this, and other flowers, people, and animals are the same." He added: "See more famous mountains and rivers. , all things in the world, in order to understand physics, experience the conditions of things, and understand the state of things." He traveled extensively throughout his life to famous mountains and rivers at home and abroad, whether it was the vast Central Plains, the beautiful south of the Yangtze River, or the desolate and misty outside the Great Wall, he left behind all of them. footprints. He wrote in a poem: "I have traveled half the world, traveling north to Boxi and Xixia.
Among the famous mountains and rivers that Daqian has visited, he has always ranked Huangshan as the first, and has climbed it three times. Daqian The reason why he prefers Huangshan is mainly due to the influence of Shi Tao. Huangshan is both Shi Tao's teacher and Shi Tao's friend. Daqian said, "The scenery of Huangshan changes a lot with each step." Other famous mountains only have four or five scenic spots to offer, but there are hundreds of miles in front and back of Huangshan, and none of them is bad. However, the dangers of Huangshan Mountain are unparalleled anywhere else. If you lose your footing, you may be shattered to pieces. "Before the age of 50, Daqian traveled around the famous mountains and rivers of his motherland. After the age of 50, he even traveled around Europe and the United States. This was a state that previous generations of painters could not experience. Zhang Daqian successively lived in Hong Kong, India, Argentina, Brazil, the United States and other places, and Traveling to places of interest in Europe, North America, South America, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and other places, he wrote a large number of travel poems and sketches, accumulating inexhaustible creations. materials, and at the same time created good conditions for his future artistic innovation.
Reading is very important for a painter.
He usually teaches his younger generations: "If you want to get rid of the vulgarity, wash away the impatience, and get rid of the craftsmanship in painting, the first is to read, the second is to read more, and the third is to read systematically and selectively. Painting and reading are two great things. It was like this in the past, and it was even more like this after living in Wangshiyuan. He read day and night without letting go of the scroll. Once, when he was traveling in the car and on the boat, Daqian was asked by a friend to take him with him. After arriving home, Daqian recounted the contents of "Desolate Book" that he had read on the way, the author's opinions and life, and the relationship between this Sichuan scholar in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and Shi Tao. It is really surprising. Because this is an academic work other than art, the habit of reading has been followed until his later years. He often said that some painters abandon the original and pursue the last, not knowing that reading more is the fundamental change of temperament. Daqian has a wide range of reading, including classics, history, works, and collections, and is not limited to books such as painting manuals and painting theory.
Zhang Daqian is not only good at landscapes, figures, flowers, and feathers. He was relatively lacking in calligraphy, which should be his regret. In his early days, he studied under the famous calligraphers Li Ruiqing and Zeng Nongbeard in the late Qing Dynasty, and formed his own calligraphy style that is delicate, square and with a slight official script flavor. After the 1930s, Mr. Zhang Daqian's calligraphy began to undergo changes. He studied under various teachers, including Wei Bei and "痗 Crane Inscription". He also studied the style of Huang Shangu, a great master of the Song Dynasty, and learned from Shi Tao's vigorous and eclectic calligraphy style. On the basis of inheriting tradition, the art of calligraphy integrates the artistic conception of landscape painting. It does not blindly pursue the superficial publicity and tenseness, but integrates strength and emotion, and seeks wonder in the ordinary, which makes his calligraphy powerful and elegant, with a beautiful appearance. Soft but strong at the same time, Zhang Daqian's own style of brushwork is powerful and graceful, which is called "Daqian style" by later generations.