Zhang Daqian (Chinese, 1899–1983) was a painter and collector, and one of the most renowned Chinese artists of the 20th century. Born in Neijian in the Sichuan province, Zhang was encouraged by his family to pursue painting, and traveled with his brother, Zhang Shanzi, to Kyoto, Japan, where he learned textile dyeing. He then traveled to Shanghai, where he studied traditional painting from well-known calligraphers and painters Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing. Zhang also had the opportunity to study works by ancient masters in detail, and began to make forgeries; he first gained notoriety when one of his forged works successfully fooled art experts.

After his early success in Shanghai, Zhang traveled north and became active in the arts and cultural scene in Beijing. He began a collaboration with well-known Beijing artist Pu Ru, and together they became known as the “South Zhang and North Pu.”

During the Sino-Japanese War, the artist studied traditional Tang-Song figure painting and ancient large-scale landscape painting, both of which would inspire his own work. In reaction to the political climate in 1949, Zhang left China in the early 1950s. Over the next serveral years, the artist lived in various places, including Mendoza, Argentina; São Paulo, Brazil; and Carmel, CA. His meeting with Pablo Picasso in 1956 in Nice, France, drew international attention as a significant artistic meeting between East and West.

As a result of eye problems in the late 1950s, Zhang developed his splashed-color (pocai) style, which has been viewed as a tribute to the splashed-ink technique of ancient painter Wang Mo, as well as an homage to the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States.

In 1978 the artist settled in Taipei, Taiwan. Today, his home, Moye-jingshe, next to the National Palace Museum, is the Memorial Museum of Zhang Daqian.