On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Lotus
Zhang Daqian Chinese
Not on view
In his later years, Zhang Daqian experienced vision loss. In response, he leaned into his interest in abstraction to create images driven by bold shapes, color fields, and the unerring strength of his hand rather than painstaking attention to detail. In this painting, made just three years before his death, Zhang’s leaves have become large, unruly daubs of ink and color. The power of his brush remains evident in the towering stems and in the flowers themselves, where he has strategically chosen to apply areas of detail to contrast with the boldness of the leaves.
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