Portrait of Bodhisattva

ZHANG DAQIAN (1899-1983) Portrait of Bodhisattva Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper 112.2 x 65.2 cm. (44 1⁄8 x 25 5⁄8 in.) Inscribed and signed, with two seals of the artist Dated nineteenth day, ninth month, renwu year (1942) NOTE: The nineteen day of the ninth month is one of the dates of the Guanyin Festival, usually marked as the date he attained nirvana. Zhang Daqian specially painted this portrait of Guanyin on this day, which is particularly meaningful for him as he had previously spent a hundred days as a Buddhist monk. According to the current collector, this painting was kept by the artist for many years and was sold to director Lee Fa in the 1960s. Later, the work was introduced by Mr. Jiang Chao, a famous calligraphy and painting intermediary in Macau, and was sold to Master of the Songdetang collection in the early 1970s. Lee Fa (1909-1975) was born in Xinhui, Guangdong, and was one of the great Cantonese movie directors and movie makers in Hong Kong. Lee founded Emei Film Company in the 1960s, and directed many black and white movies adapted from the martial arts novels by Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng, a pioneer of the Hong Kong movie industry. Lee moved to Macau in 1968 and passed away in 1975.