Recluse Gazing at a Waterfall

Chang Ta-ch'ien (Zhang Daqian) is one of the best-known and most prolific Chinese artists of the 20th century, as prized for his detailed portraits as he is for his splashed-ink landscapes. Originally a traditionalist who excelled at a broad range of classical Chinese styles and techniques, he later developed innovative methods such as pouring ink and colour on paper or silk to produce random, evocative forms to which he added small figurative details such as a figure or a tree. Combining traditional Chinese brushwork and semiabstract compositions related to American Abstract Exressionism, Chang created highly innovative works distinguished by rich, dark tones and mineral-based pigments; he is one of the great modernist of the last century.

Sichuan, China