Various Scenes from the Pa Te Yuan Garden (Ducklings by the Lake)
Artist
Chang Dai-chien
Zhang Daqian; Chinese, 1899 - 1983
Date1965
MaterialsInk and colors on paper
Dimensions9 1/2 × 10 5/8 in (24.1 cm × 27 cm)
Credit LineGift of William Ing in memory of his wife Wilma Sing Shen Chang Ing, daughter of Chang Dai-chien
Object number2021.69.5
DepartmentChinese Art
ClassificationsPainting
On View
Not on viewSigned“大千”（朱文方印）。
Daqian (square relief).
Inscribed“乙巳三月十五日，將之北美前夕，寫與尕女。爰翁。”
On the fifteenth day of the third lunar month in the yisi year (1965), painted for my daughter right before my departure to North America, old man Yuan.
Text EntriesIn 1954, Chang Dai-chien moved with his extended family from Argentina to Brazil. There he built a large garden with five pavilions, sculpted with rocks, bamboo groves, and water features, that he called Pa Te Yuan (Garden of Eight Virtues). These eight virtues are associated with Confucian personal training. By naming his garden after these virtues, Chang offered his family a reminder of the personal code he wanted them to follow.
Chang’s family members often recall their secluded years together in Brazil as intimate and idyllic. This suite of album leaves depicts scenes drawn from remembered garden vistas, including Ducklings by the Lake, Hilltops, Lakeshore, Fish Pond, and Rock Plateau. They are closer to simple nature studies than to the grand compositions of some of Chang’s work from this period.
