Chang Dai-chien After 1949

OF COLOR AND INK

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"The greatest Chinese painter of the last 500 years."

— Beihong HSu , famous chinese painter of horses

"If asked, “Who is the biggest-selling artist at auction?” Few people in the art world would answer “Zhang Daqian.” (New York Times June 2, 2017)

Chang Dai-chien (Zhang Daqian) (1899-1983) is considered as the most important Chinese painter of the 20th century. His artistic genius and ability have left him unparalleled, and he is known as the “Picasso of the East.” Chang evolved into a world-class poet, calligraphist, impressionist, and expressionist. His indelible influence on contemporary art history formed a bridge between China’s past and present, as well as the East and the West. Chang left China in 1949 and traveled throughout the world until he died in Taiwan in 1983. Over 34 years living overseas, he desired, created and lived in his dreamland, “Peach Blossom Spring” from Argentina to Brazil, then California and Taiwan. As the first Chinese artist holding the most well-known international exhibitions worldwide, and as the world’s biggest selling artist at auctions, his paintings have been collected by top museums, galleries, and private collections throughout the world. Yet, Chang’s art has been little known in the western world, and his life journey after 1949 has remained a mystery to most Chinese.

SYNOPSIS

production background

This feature-length documentary film is dedicated to revealing the unknown history and untold life stories of Chang Dai-chien, in order to present a complete image of a world-class artist and fill the blank he left in the art history. More importantly, this film will reflect how political and historical forces could impact an artist’s life and creative experience.

In the past 12 years, director Weimin Zhang has accomplished intensive research and interviews in the U.S, Brazil, France, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, Japan and many regions of China. Weimin and her team have traveled and filmed over 200 hours of interviews of Chang’s close families, friends, disciples, scholars, collectors, and artists throughout the world. Moreover, she uncovered and secured a great deal of valuable rarely seen an unknown visual and audio materials from India to Argentina; from Brazil to California, Japan, Taiwan, and Europe.

Production background

The feature-length documentary film is dedicated to revealing the unknown history and untold life stories of Chang Dai-chien, in order to present a complete image of a world-class artist and fill the blank he left in the art history. More importantly, this film will reflect how political and historical forces could impact an artist's life and creative experience.

In the past 12 years, director Weimin Zhang has accomplished intensive research and interviews in the U.S, Brazil, France, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, Japan and many regions of China. Weimin and her team have traveled and filmed over 200 hours of interviews of Chang's close families, friends, disciples, scholars, collectors, and artists throughout the world. Moreover, she uncovered and secured a great deal of valuable rarely seen an unknown visual and audio materials from India to Argentina; from Brazil to California, Japan, Taiwan, and Europe.

Behind the Scenes

From Taiwan, Brazil, Japan, Europe to the U.S., the team has traveled all over the world interviewing the children, the relatives, the apprentices of Chang Dai-chien.