ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983)
Lotus
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
43.5 x 95 cm. (17 ¹⁄₈ x 37 ³⁄₈ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with four seals of the artist

Zhang Dingchen (?–c. 2007), whose ancestral home was in Hebei, studied under Ma Jichuan, an antique dealer and mounting specialist at Beijing’s Liulichang in his youth. In 1948, Zhang Dingchen moved to Nanjing to open a shop before eventually settling in Hong Kong.

Thanks to his long-standing experience in dealing art, Zhang developed a discerning eye. Not only did he maintain connections with leading connoisseurs of the time, such as Liu Jiuan and Geng Baochang, but he also became one of Zhang Daqian’s agents in Hong Kong, assisting him in acquiring and selling classical paintings and calligraphies. Whenever Zhang Daqian passed through Hong Kong, he would stay with Zhang Dingchen for days, reflecting their close friendship.

In the 1950s, a portion of the classical paintings Zhang Daqian took overseas were sold through Zhang Dingchen to collectors and institutions abroad. Many of these works ultimately entered the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.