Autumn Mountains in Twilight

Zhang Daqian’s Autumn Mountains at Dusk (1967, also called Autumn Mountains in Twilight) is a monumental ink and color painting that captures the majesty of mountains at sunset, inspired by both California’s Yosemite peaks and ancient Chinese landscapes. Brilliant washes of red, orange, blue, and green are splashed across the composition, while gold and crimson hues illuminate peaks and mist-draped cliffs. The painting’s vibrant palette conjures the blazing energy of dusk, transforming natural grandeur into an expressive, dreamlike atmosphere.

Artistic and Social Context

Created during Zhang’s post-exile years in Brazil after a transformative trip to California, this work exemplifies his pioneering splashed-ink techniques and reinvention of classical Chinese landscape traditions. The painting draws direct reference to Guan Tong’s 10th-century masterpiece but fuses it with Zhang’s firsthand experience of Yosemite’s towering cliffs, especially El Capitan. The work was gifted to Madam Jan Yun-bor and included in the influential Mei Yun Tang collection. Zhang merges reverence for Chinese tradition with contemporary global influences, highlighting his international stature and personal connection to sites of natural and emotional significance.

Interpretation and Meaning

Autumn Mountains at Dusk is not only a tribute to the grandeur of iconic mountains but also an emotional meditation on memory, renewal, and artistic transformation. The fiery, luminous colors express both the intensity of autumn’s final blaze and a sense of rebirth at day’s end, suggesting tension and harmony between permanence and change. Through abstraction and vibrant color, Zhang reimagines landscape painting as a deeply personal, universally resonant vision—merging nature’s splendor and fleeting beauty with the introspective spirit of literati tradition.

Size

The original size of Zhang Daqian’s Autumn Mountains at Dusk is approximately 174 × 104 cm (68 1/2 × 41 inches).Zhang Daqian’s Autumn Mountains at Dusk (1967, also known as Autumn Mountains in Twilight) is a monumental ink and color painting that translates the grandeur of sunset over mountain landscapes into a dazzling interplay of vibrant reds, blues, greens, and gold. Inspired by both ancient Chinese masters and the cliffs of Yosemite, the composition glows with splashed colors and luminous washes that evoke the moment when blazing autumn light bathes sheer peaks and misty valleys. Zhang’s mastery of both tradition and innovation turns ancient forms into a contemporary, emotionally charged scene.