Zhang Daqian: Spring Mountains in Sichuan

Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien, 1899-1983), SPRING MOUNTAINS IN SICHUAN, ink and colour on paper, hanging scroll, signed DAQIAN JUSHI, dated gui si, 1953, spring, and inscribed. Later inscribed again, signed DAQIAN ZHANG YUAN, with a dedication to Chen Chih-Ping, and a total of three seals of the artist, Image Source: Sotheby’s

“The political changes in China in 1949 forced Zhang Daqian to leave his homeland in Sichuan, and in August 1952, Zhang Daqian left Hong Kong to reside in Mendoza, Argentina…

In Spring Mountains of Sichuan, Daqian wrote a deeply felt inscription, unmistakably a nostalgic recollection of the artist’s homeland in Sichuan:

In the ample greenery of the tender winter,

Where will the vibrant spring come, and where too is my happiness?

The numerous sceneries of my homeland I write,

Yet who is there to read and care?”
READ FULL ESSAY: Sotheby’s