Join the Tang Center for East Asian Art for a screening of Of Color and Ink: The Chang Dai-chien Story with Weimin Zhang, director, cinematographer, and professor at the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University.
Hailed as one of China’s foremost painter of the 20th century, Chang Dai-chien (Zhang Daqian) is a seminal figure in the transmission of Chinese art to the West. His paintings have outsold Van Gogh (CNN) and have set world auction records (New York Times). Yet his thirty-year exile in the West after leaving China in 1949 remains widely misunderstood and shrouded in mystery.
Of Color and Ink is the first film to document Chang’s thirty-year exile through South America, Europe, and the United States; the film is the result of a twelve-year journey by Chinese-American director Weimin Zhang who sought to unravel the mysteries and controversies surrounding Chang’s artistic and spiritual quest as he journeyed across the world. The film reveals the hidden story of Chang Dai-chien’s rise as an artist of global stature and how his art transcended cultural boundaries and political borders—a story that is particularly relevant today.
Of Color and Ink has been met with acclaim from critics, who herald it as both a remarkable cinematic achievement and a significant scholarly contribution. The film has already won several “Best Documentary” awards at festivals in China, Brazil, and the United States, as well as over a dozen selections by the film festivals.
Location: Computer Science Building, Room 104
Cosponsored by the Department of Art and Archaeology and the Princeton University Art Museum
