Asian Works of Art

Chinese Peonies
Ink and color on paper, hanging scroll.
Signed and inscribed, with a dedication, dated summer of lunar year bingsheng (1956). Two artist seals, Zhang Yuan si yin, Daqian ju shi.
張大千
（近代，1899-1983）
芍藥圖
設色紙本 立軸
款識：通伯先生留念，丙申（1956）之夏，大千居士張爰。
鈐印：張爰私印，大千居士
注：
上款人陈通伯即名作家兼外交家陈西滢（1896-1970）。他原名陈源，字通伯，笔名西滢，江苏无锡人，早年负笈英伦，就读于爱丁堡大学与伦敦大学，获博士学位。1922年归国后投身教育界，历任北京大学外文系教授及武汉大学文学院院长。

1924年陈西滢与胡适、徐志摩等人共同创办《现代评论》杂志，主编《闲话》专栏，成为“现代评论派”的核心人物。

陈西滢的夫人名聲更巨，为才女作家、画家凌叔华。夫妇二人交游广阔，与同时期众多文人雅士及艺术名家往来密切。

1946年，陈西滢出任中国常驻联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）首任代表，后定居英国。

上世紀中葉张大千游欧，遍踏英、法、德、瑞、奥诸国。居停巴黎与伦敦尤甚，蓋故友旧交多集中兩城。陳西瀅即在此時與大千交游，獲贈此作。
Note:
The recipient of this inscription, Chen Tongbo, was the well-known writer and diplomat Chen Xiying (1896–1970). His original name was Chen Yuan, with Tongbo as his courtesy name and Xiying as his pen name. A native of Wuxi, Jiangsu, he pursued higher education in Britain in his youth, studying at the University of Edinburgh and the University of London, where he received his doctoral degree. After returning to China in 1922, he entered the field of education, serving successively as a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at Peking University and later as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Wuhan University.

In 1924, Chen Xiying co-founded the journal Modern Review (Xiandai Pinglun) together with Hu Shi and Xu Zhimo, and edited its well-known column “Xianhua” (“Random Talks”). Through this work, he became a central figure of the so-called “Modern Review group,” an influential intellectual circle in Republican China.

Chen Xiying’s wife was even more renowned: the talented writer and painter Ling Shuhua. The couple maintained an extensive social and intellectual network, closely associated with many prominent writers, scholars, and artists of their time.

In 1946, Chen Xiying was appointed China’s first permanent representative to UNESCO, after which he settled in the United Kingdom.

During the mid-twentieth century, Zhang Daqian traveled extensively in Europe, visiting Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. He spent particularly long periods in Paris and London, where many old friends and acquaintances were based. It was during this period that Zhang renewed his friendship with Chen Xiying, presenting him with this painting as a gift.