Mushroom and Orange Daylily
Artist
Chang Dai-chien
(Zhang Daqian; Chinese, 1899 - 1983)
Artist
Fang Zhaoling
(Chinese, 1914 - 2006)
Date1958
MaterialsInk and colors on paper
DimensionsH. 35 1/4 in x W. 23 5/8 in, H. 89.5 cm x W. 60 cm (image); H. 65 1/8 in x W. 26 7/8 in, H. 165.4 cm x W. 68.3 cm (overall)
Credit LineThe Avery Brundage Collection
Object numberB60D37+
DepartmentChinese Art
ClassificationsPainting
On View
Not on viewSigned“召麐”（白文方印）、“梁溪方氏”（朱文方印）、“東渡扶桑西訪美法德意諸國”（朱文方印）。
Zhaolin (square intaglio), Liangxi Fang shi (square relief), dongdu fusang xifang mei fa de yi zhuguo (square relief).
Inscribed“曩居無錫常以菌佐食，其味鮮美，無與倫比。離別家鄉，瞬逾十載，頃居赫貞河畔，爰寫此幀以寄鄉思。此幀荷張老師大千先生賜作萱花。戊戌龝深梁溪方召麐。”
When I lived in Wuxi, I often used mushrooms to supplement my meals. Their fresh and delicious taste is unparalleled. Time flies and it has been ten years since I sadly left my hometown. While temporarily living by the Hudson (Hezhen) river, I painted this image to carry my homesickness. This image bears the orange daylily painted by my teacher Mr. Chang Dai-chien. Fang Zhaolin of Liangxi, in the deep autumn of the wuxu year (1958).
More InformationIn the fall of 1958, Chang was visiting friends in New York City, near where artist Fang Zhaoling happened to live, along the Hudson River. Fang was a student of the master Chao Shao-an and had developed her skill at flower and bird painting following the Lingnan school. She was particularly fond of painting mushrooms and invited Chang to add a few strokes to one of her paintings. Chang learned that Fang was homesick and missed the fresh taste of the mushrooms from her hometown, so he added a few orange daylilies to her composition. It is believed that this type of plant helps people feel happy and forget worries, and thus Chang chose to paint it to reduce Fang’s homesickness.
