Taipei City Government

Chang Dai-ch'ien was one of the greatest painters in modern China. Beyond an inheritance of the thousand-plus-year-old traditions of Chinese shanshui painting , his works embrace a global outlook. Productive throughout his long life, he brought the grace and beauty of Chinese painting and calligraphy to the attention of the international community. If you'd like to get to know this 20th-century master of water and ink, here's the news— from Sep. 18 through Oct. 31, Taipei's JXJ Books is staging a fine introductory exhibition,“Chang Dai-ch'ien Painting Albums and Documents”, at its gallery.

From his early years, Chang showed a proclivity for the elegant ink painting traditionally practiced by the literati. In later years, having spent time in the West, he created a unique fusion of Western abstract technique with Chinese shanshui painting, producing startlingly innovative shanshui scenes with splash-ink and splashed colors in what were abstract or semi-abstract tableaux. These mise-en-scenes achieved what at first seem an impossible, the seamless, logical blending of realism and impressionistic.

In his forties, Chang went on a trek to take in the famed grottoes at mainland China's Dunhuang . The majestic Buddhist frescoes within had a tremendous impact on him, and he ended up staying on for three years to copy a selection of these masterpieces. His works thereafter were much more colorful, and he brought his visions to realize on far larger canvases.During this period, he embarked on a peregrination of the globe, seeking out many of the leading lights in the West's world of painting for an exchange of insights. One of his most talked about experiences was his meeting with Picasso in Paris in 1956. The two free-spirited artists quickly formed a friendship in which they exchanged finished works as well as their ideas on each other's compositions.

Having traveled the world as well as throughout his native China, this rolling stone finally decided to come to rest in Taiwan, building his own home in the tranquil Waishuangxi area at the north of Taipei and christening it the Abode of Maya , an allusion to the mother of the Sakyamuni Buddha. He spent the remainder of his days here, and after his passing, his home became a memorial, formally called the Chang Dai-ch'ien Residence , managed by the nearby National Palace Museum.

This exhibition will be a showcase of painting albums dedicated to Chang, with over 400 works created in and outside mainland China and Taiwan. Published from 1921 to 2009, they include early publications from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and also albums published in Germany, France, Brazil, Japan,and Korea. In addition, an intriguing collection of letters,calendars, posters, bookmarks, and other documents— almost 100 pieces in total—has been gathered.

This autumn, a trip to the venerable JXJ Books, always heavy with the air of past times, will take you on an enlightening exploration to meet Mr. Chang Dai-ch'ien. In addition, you get to embark on the rewarding timetravel sojourn at all times offered in this space where the story of man and books is told. Among the many gems are out-of-print books from the 1960s, including books containing records and illustrations from Taiwan's Japanese colonial era, Chang's manuscripts and letters,and editions of mainland China literary works from the 1920s and 1930s. The ambiance is augmented with classic-style accouterments such as old-time Chinese “grandfather chairs”, early radios, and calligraphy tablets. Time spent digging for that precious old discontinued title you've long been searching for is, rest assured, time very well spent.