Shen C. Y. Fu

When I moved to St. Louis in 1991 the works of Chang Dai-chien (Zhang Daqian) were in special exhibit at the St. Louis County Art Museum. This book was being sold then and is now, unfortunately, out of print. Chang Dai-chien is considered one of the great (if not the greatest) Chinese painters of the 20th century. He is also considered one of the greatest forgers of classic chinese art in history. With a body of work greater than 30,000 items (of which 5,000 are estimated to survive), his life is as interesting as his art, and this book does outstanding service to both.

One of the interesting things I learned about Dai-chien was that he would create forgeries based on existing documentation about missing paintings. When his forged work would suddenly be found, there would be a record as to the existence of the work!

Many of his forged works are still undiscovered in museums around the world. At the same time, a large body of his original works signed by him are treasured. He attempted to synthesize a modern version of painting based on Chinese masters, and the works reproduced in this book support a certain success in his endeavors.

Shen C. Y. Fu discusses the life of the artist, supplies a context regarding forgery in Chinese art history (seen in a different, sometimes more positive light than western forgers), and discusses individual works both forged, and honestly attributed to the artist.

This is a fascinating read for people who are unfamiliar with classic Chinese art. The story of the artist adds layers of interesting context beyond just recounting various styles, etc.… (meer)