Of Color and Ink: Chang Dai-chien After 1949

Hailed as China’s foremost painter of the last 500 years, Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983) 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 30-year exile in the West after leaving Mainland China in 1949 remains widely misunderstood and shrouded in mystery.

“Of Color and Ink” is the first film to document Chang’s 30-year exile through South America, Europe and the United States and is the result of a 12-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 from East to West. 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.

A Q&A session with Director Weimin Zhang will follow the screening, moderated by Xiaoze Xie, the Paul L. & Phyllis Wattis Professor of Art at Stanford University. Run time: 101 minutes

Winner Best International Feature Documentary Film Award at The 47th Sao Paulo International Film Festival

Winner Best Feature Documentary Film Award at The 2023 China (Guangzhou) International Documentary Film Festival

Winner Best Feature Documentary Award at The 2024 Cinequest Film & VR Festival 

Weimin Zhang is an award-winning filmmaker, cinematographer and professor at San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema. As one of China’s Sixth Generation filmmakers, she graduated from Beijing Film Academy and then received her MFA in Film Production in the U.S. She has worked on numerous award-winning films, documentaries, and TV drama series in both China and the U.S. as a director, cinematographer, and editor. Her film, The House of Spirit (2000), won the Women in Film Award and was also featured in over a dozen film festivals. In 2008, as a U.S. unit director, she filmed U.S. Olympic athletes preparing for and competing in the Olympics for The Ever-Lasting Flame – Beijing 2008; the documentary won the Grand Jury Prize at 2009 Montreal Film Festival and was selected for the permanent collection in The Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland. She also produced, wrote, and directed the feature documentary Missing Home: The Last Days of Beijing Hutongs (2013) which was presented at more than a dozen international film festivals. Weimin just completed an award-winning feature documentary film Of Color and Ink. This film was a 12-year journey to accomplish. The film unravels the mystery and controversy of the foremost Chinese artist, Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983)’s creative and spiritual quest abroad and his journey from East to West to become an artist of global significance.

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Art & Art History, Cantor Arts Center, and the Center for East Asian Studies. We gratefully acknowledge support from The Distinguished Lecture in Asian Art Fund in Honor of the Lijin Collection.

VISITOR INFORMATION: Oshman Hall is located within the McMurtry Building on Stanford campus at 355 Roth Way. Visitor parking is available in designated areas and is free after 4pm on weekdays. Alternatively, take the Caltrain to Palo Alto Transit Center and hop on the free Stanford Marguerite Shuttle. If you need a disability-related accommodation or wheelchair access information, please contact Julianne Garcia at juggarci [at] stanford.edu (juggarci[at]stanford[dot]edu). This event is open to Stanford affiliates and the general public. Admission is free.

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