He has been compared to Picasso in many exhibition essays and catalogs. That analogy is often accompanied by evidence of their 'summit' in 1956 in France.

Dai-chien began as an artist in his early years. Born in a rich and educated family, he was taught to paint by his mother. After he went to high school and later to Kyoto to study textile dyeing techniques in Kyoto, Japan for two years, be began his formal painting instruction under two Shanghai artists. Dai-chien's favorite artist, Shih Tao (1641-c.1717), was a great influence to him. Dai-chien copied Shih Tao's work and at a young age he became a connoisseur and began to collect ancient Chinese paintings. By the time the war started in 1937, he already had twenty-four boxes of treasured pieces, some of which later became his major source of income for a comfortable lifestyle abroad, in Brazil and Carmel, CA.
His first major show in Peking in 1934 was a great success. From 1941 until 1943, he painted wall murals at the Temple of 1,000 Buddhas in Tun Huang in northwestern China. His focus became bigger and wider as time went on. He was invited to show everywhere in the world. In July 1956, he was in Paris attending his own exhibition. While there, he and his wife met Picasso at his home in Cannes. Picasso showed over 20 of his paintings in the style of Chi Pai-shih and asked Chang for comment. Mr. Chang was polite but direct. He told Picasso that the tools he used were not right. Later Chang sent some Chinese brushes to Picasso. While they were chatting, Picasso told Chang Dai-chien, "What puzzles me most is why you Chinese come to Paris to learn about painting."

(Click here to read more about Chang Daqian on Google ).  

This book contains two volumes which included a collection of Chang Daqian's major paintings.

Page 422

Dimension 8-1/4"(21cm) x 11-1/8"(28.5cm)

Color Plates

Hard cover with hard jacket box.

Published by Beijing Arts and Crafts Press, 2005

ISBN 978-7-80526-565-8