Who is better, Zhang Daqian or Qi Baishi?

Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian are both famous painters in modern China, with well-known names and obvious achievements in their works. If we want to compare the two, who is better? Who has a higher status and achievements in the painting world?

Who is more powerful, Qi Baishi or Zhang Daqian?

In Chinese art Historically, Qi Baishi was a great artist who moved from tradition to innovation! Qi Baishi's painting style in his early years was extremely immature, and he had no own artistic style and characteristics. He was a late-blooming artist. Like Huang Binhong of the same period, his Art is also good late in life!

So: talking about Qi Baishi's art refers to his original red flower and ink leaf painting style in his later years, which can be said to have established a sect and had a far-reaching influence. Shi Tao once said a famous saying in art, "Brush and ink should follow the times." The greatest feature of art is its flavor of the times! In his early years, Qi Baishi lived in the late Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China. Both feudal society and the Republic of China society were hierarchical and oppressive societies. The reflection of an unequal society on art is that art only reflects the aesthetic needs of the upper class, so it is far different from the aesthetic tastes of ordinary people and ordinary people, because artists do not have to satisfy the artistic needs of ordinary people!

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The same was true for Qi Baishi in his early years, but what really made Qi Baishi famous in history was his painting style after the Reform in his decline, that is, his painting style in his later years. The biggest feature of his painting style in his later years was that it satisfied the aesthetic needs of ordinary people. , this is also the need of the times, because the era has reached the modern society that advocates freedom and democracy. Equality and freedom of social status have made ordinary people become the audience of art. Qi Baishi is a great artist who has followed this artistic trend. First of all: he expanded the subject matter of painting, which is his greatest artistic contribution. His freehand flowers and birds draw a wide range of materials, including melons, fruits, vegetables, vegetables, flowers, birds, insects, fish, as long as they are flying in the sky and running on the ground. It can be said that it is an unprecedented artistic initiative. For those painters in ancient times who only used pine, plum, orchid and bamboo as their materials, Qi Baishi obviously has a more life-like and more realistic style. Enthusiastic, positive, and upward, it can be said that it is entirely an art that belongs to the people. Secondly: Among the painting colors, Qi Baishi added red! The application of red in Chinese painting was a ground-breaking initiative! Because the ancients, especially the literati, respected black. Black represents nobility and elegance and is the basic element of literati painting. The use of ink and five colors Tools and the density of ink are the color elements of painting. Literati paintings can be said to be ink paintings! Literati are opposed to the use of color, and they are especially opposed to the use of red, because red is the color that the common people love. It is festive, but tacky and not popular.

Qi Baishi cleverly combines black and red. The use of red represents the aesthetic requirements of ordinary people, and the use of red represents the understanding and inheritance of tradition.

Zhang Daqian also has extremely high artistic attainments. It can be said that there is no successor in the history of modern Chinese art. He has not made any achievements in the field of freehand flowers and birds! Zhang Daqian is not very good at "Xu Wei, Bada Shanren, Yangzhou Eight The freehand flowers and birds opened by masters such as "Strange" are his only weakness, and this is exactly what Qi Baishi is best at! Zhang Daqian paints landscapes (ink landscapes, light crimson landscapes, green landscapes), figures (Zhang Daqian's figure paintings have two Changes: Before the age of 30, he studied the tradition of figure painting in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with a graceful and graceful style; in 1941, he went to Dunhuang to copy Sui and Tang figure murals, and his style changed drastically. The figures painted were majestic and colorful, showing the legacy of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. (coloring) are all very accomplished!

Comprehensive analysis: Zhang Daqian has achieved great achievements in all art fields in China, and is the most accomplished person in art! He is known as "the most accomplished person in the past five hundred years." ", "Picasso of the East", "the world's greatest painter".

Zhang Daqian's achievements are relatively comprehensive, and he is good at landscapes, flowers and birds, figures, meticulous brushwork, freehand brushwork, and part-time writing. Although Qi Baishi is very accomplished in flowers and birds, figures, and landscapes, they are all in the freehand style.

So: Qi Baishi's achievements in the field of freehand flower-and-bird painting are higher than Zhang Daqian's, and his influence is greater than Zhang Daqian's. In the history of Chinese art, Qi Baishi is slightly higher than Zhang Daqian; but in terms of his status in world art history, Zhang Daqian is higher. Yu Qi Baishi, and Zhang Daqian have almost no artistic blind spots, and their styles are more comprehensive.

Does Qi Baishi not want to see Zhang Daqian?

In the 1930s, Zhang Daqian was as famous as Qi Baishi and was known as "Southern Zhang Daqian and Northern Qi". However, Qi Baishi scorned him, and Zhang Daqian once visited his residence, but Qi turned him away behind closed doors.

The reason for not accepting the interview - Zhang Daqian's fraud was too "***".

Countless victims

In the 1920s, Zhang Daqian’s fake paintings were more famous than his real paintings.

The objects of Zhang Daqian's forgeries ranged from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. He imitated the paintings of representative painters of each dynasty and dynasty.

Because of his extremely high level of forgery, he even earned the title of "The Resurrection of Shi Tao (one of the "Four Painting Monks" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties)" - his imitation of Shi Tao's paintings can almost look real.

A few paragraphs illustrate this:

In the winter of 1925, the painter Chen Banding hosted a banquet for Zhang Daqian and other friends, aiming to show off his collection of Shi Tao's fine albums. During the banquet, Chen Banding placed the exquisitely framed Shi Tao album on the table. On the title page, there were four words "Jinling Scenic Spots" inscribed by the famous Japanese connoisseur Naito Tora. Everyone admired it and marveled. Unexpectedly, Zhang Daqian stepped forward, glanced briefly, and said, "I painted this picture album three years ago!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the audience was shocked.

Chen Banding looked displeased and asked "What's the proof?" Zhang Daqian told the album's contents, inscriptions and seals one by one, and the guests opened the album and compared it, and it turned out to be true.

Chen Banding was extremely embarrassed, and his friends broke up on bad terms.

In a similar story, the "victimized protagonist" is Huang Binhong. It is said that Zhang Daqian exchanged a fake Shitao painting for a real Shitao painting by Huang Binhong, which greatly embarrassed Huang Binhong, who was known as the "Shitao appraisal expert" .

Huang Miaozi, who had a relationship with Daqian, said that in the late 1920s, Zhang Daqian colluded with an antique dealer and used a fake Shi Tao painting to defraud Shanghai collector Cheng Linsheng of 13,000 yuan. Zhang Daqian later secretly Said to a friend: "I painted seventy-eight of the hundred Shi Tao paintings collected by Cheng Linsheng."

Zhang Daqian's forgeries are everywhere, and even some of the Shi Tao collections in some museums were painted by Zhang Daqian.

Famous domestic collectors Luo Zhenyu, Gao Jianfu, Wu Hufan, etc. have all suffered from him, and even Marshal Zhang Xueliang has bought Zhang Daqian's fake Shitao paintings. It is said that Zhang Xueliang also hosted a "Hongmen Banquet" for Zhang Daqian, but the two did not know each other but became friends.

The master behind the scenes

The fake paintings created by Zhang Daqian still give connoisseurs a headache today.

In 1999, the controversy over "Whether Dong Yuan's "River Bank Picture" was created by Zhang Daqian" that caused a stir in the world is an example.

Both sides of the debate are experts in contemporary painting and calligraphy appraisal. For example, Gao Juhan (art historian, American) believes that this painting was copied by Zhang Daqian. This view is not unreasonable: Zhang Daqian has a habit. After buying an ancient painting from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, he often paints a few pictures himself, which is what is called "laying eggs" in the calligraphy and painting industry. Some of these "eggs" are sold to others through his own hands, while others are sold through auction houses. Because of the high level of his imitations, it is difficult for auction houses and appraisers to spot them.

In addition, Zhang Daqian’s fake paintings can deceive the eyes of many collectors, and they are also related to a framer named Zhou Longchang.

Zhou Longchang’s painting skills are at their peak, and he is the best at digging and repairing. It can be said that he has reached the level of elusiveness. Any broken pieces, any figures, rocks, pavilions, etc., can be moved from east to west without any flaws to be found. His tools are very simple, a bamboo silk stick and a very thin piece of ivory. As long as he is careful and aligns the fibers, he can weave it into its original shape.

Zhang Daqian once hired Zhou Longchang to frame old paintings at his home with a monthly salary of 200 silver dollars, only two or three pieces a year. Later, it was increased to 300 yuan per month, specifically for Zhang to repair old paintings.

Another characteristic of many of his fake paintings is that he likes to ask appraisal experts to write inscriptions and postscripts for the ancient paintings he imitates. Someone has done a survey and found that Ye Gongchuo, Puru, Huang Binhong, and Yu Feian had the most questions about him, and these people were all authorities in the field of appraisal at that time, and their words were consistent.

However, it is not clear why these experts waded into troubled waters and did not find out that it was a fake despite their difficulties.

According to Fu Shen, a master of modern calligraphy and painting appraisal, Zhang Daqian has imitated more than 900 seals by calligraphers, painters and collectors of all dynasties, among which more than 100 seals by Ming Dynasty collector Xiang Yuanbian alone (now in the New York Museum of Art) Crowe Museum).

Selling fake paintings to express patriotism

Zhang Daqian was criticized, firstly for "forgery", and another for "destroying Dunhuang".

In 1941, Zhang Daqian borrowed 5,000 taels of gold (one theory was to deposit a batch of precious ancient paintings with the Gansu Bank) and went to Dunhuang three times to study murals.

The so-called "destruction" happened when Zhang Daqian accidentally discovered a secret while copying. There were actually several layers of murals in a cave. The outer layer of mud has long since peeled off. If you want to see the exquisite paintings on the inside, you must peel off the outer layer.

There is also a theory that when Zhang Daqian accompanied Yu Youren to visit, he ordered the accompanying soldiers to knock down the outer murals.

This matter was rumored for a while and had a long-lasting impact. Although it was finally confirmed that Zhang Daqian "did not destroy the murals", there are still criticisms to this day.

In the early 1950s, Zhang Daqian sold three famous ancient Chinese paintings (including Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai Night Banquet" and Dong Yuan's "Xiaoxiang Picture") to the mainland at low prices to show that he patriotic.

According to conclusive evidence, Zhang Daqian was in urgent need of money at the time, and only sold these paintings to the mainland after encountering obstacles in selling paintings in the United States. What is chilling is that among them, "Xiaoxiang" "Picture" was actually a fake painting. Two months before his death, Zhang Daqian admitted in a letter to his friend Xie Zhiliu that it was a fake.

According to Chen Chuanxi's "The Inside Story of Zhang Daqian Selling Pictorials", later the restrictive policies of the US government were loosened, and the famous Chinese paintings collected by Zhang Daqian were continuously sold to major museums in the United States, and he was never seen selling them at low prices again. To the mainland.

According to Zhang Ding (former dean of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts), he met Zhang Daqian when he was presiding over the general design of the China Pavilion at the International Expo in Paris in the summer of 1956. Zhang Daqian had a batch of famous ancient Chinese paintings that he wanted to sell. To mainland China, it was not accepted due to the sky-high asking price.

Second-rate painter

In modern times, many people highly praise Zhang Daqian. Xu Beihong even praised him as "the first person in five hundred years."

There are also endless anecdotes about him. Someone summarized his life in one paragraph:

He spent three years in Dunhuang, earning mixed reputations. He discussed paintings with Picasso and took photos, which was talked about by the world. He loved Taoism; he once presented "Lotus" and also painted "Panasonic Master" to Chiang Kai-shek; he was a bandit, but he was happy to be an "elegant thief"; he was a monk, but refused to take the ordination; he forged paintings and exposed himself A family scandal; he coached and then walked away.

He is dashing, he lost the national treasure "Cao'e Monument" in a big gamble, and was ashamed to face his sick old mother; he is romantic, his red sleeves are fragrant to Japan and South Korea, and he has a lot of wives and concubines; he is rich. He was an enemy country and had no place to stand; he wandered around the world, including India, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, and the United States, and finally returned to Taiwan...

However, some people say that if Zhang Daqian had stayed on the mainland, he would have been with others. Compared with painters, he is considered second-rate at best.

Fu Lei commented on his paintings in a letter to a friend: "Daqian is another speculator. His greatest skill in life is to forge Shi Tao, but he is a top-notch master. His own creations are at best only It is often vulgar to steal a piece of Daoji (i.e. Shi Tao - Editor's Note), or to bring some flowers from Chen Baiyang (Chen Chun - Editor's Note), Xu Qingteng (Xu Wei - Editor's Note), or Bada (especially Bada) to enchant and bluff people. Impatient, with vulgar taste, especially ladies..."

People have analyzed the reasons why Zhang Daqian cheated: first, for profit, to maintain his huge expenses; second, for fame, to challenge the authority of the art world; third, for the sake of fame Name, show off your extraordinary skills.

Huang Miaozi’s comments are more thought-provoking. While pointing out that forgery is immoral, he also said: “A genius who has never been born in the world, in the complex modern society, for the pursuit of art, turned around and turned. I think it is pitiful to walk on such a rough road and cannot be condemned at will."

What is right and wrong can only be judged by the benevolent.