The Study Of Zhang Daqian’s Painting Thought

In 1840,Qing Dynasty was defeated by western powers,thus putting the ancient country into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.Western culture sneaked in,quite like a flood,crashing the traditional local civilization,including the query and criticism towards traditional Chinese painting.Whether local artists should be improving the western art or becoming westernized has been a great confusion for them then,so,they were forced to make up there minds of choosing one side only,and to speak up for this side only.However,under such conditions,Daqian Zhang,a world-renowned Chinese artist,stood out with his art theories.Back when he was a kid,he was greatly influenced by his art-appreciating family.Moreover,he learned from two great masters who taught him generously—Xi Zeng and Ruiqing Li.Because of these teachers,he found his passion of reading,and that enlarged his range of knowledge tremendously.Having accumulated inspirations and materials from his own journeys and experiences,he created splendid and spectacular masterpieces of splash-ink that amazed the world.And the forming of his art theories,not only absorbed the influence of the eastward transmission of the western sciences,but also his own experiences of traveling western countries in his later years.This article will be discussing the theories of Daqian Zhang in three parts,starting from the specific background under that period of time,following a chronological order to introduce his experiences,and analyzing the forming of his theories.Then at last,a general conclusion on his ideas of paintings and his features of paintings,is drawn.Hence,it would be clearer for readers to understand the importance of his studies on traditional Chinese painting,in terms of copying and real-life painting,as well as the relationship between tradition and innovation.