Panda Diplomacy and the QANTAS Connection: an Important Chinese Painting by Zhang Zhenshi
Our next auction has a remarkable piece of history documenting the Australian- China relationship in its initial stages, the first thawing of the ‘Cold-War’ that followed WWII.
Coming in as a complete unknown ‘Chinese Painting’, the work has many visual prompts to interpret, including red seals, the artist’s signature, and a beautiful calligraphic title: “Pure Delights of the Bamboo Grove“. Seemingly out of place is a small vintage photograph, placed onto the surface of the painting before the glass of the frame sealed it in – and it changes everything. It shows the artist himself, Zhang Zhenshi, formally presenting Pure Delights of the Bamboo Grove to Sir Lenox Hewitt (1917–2020) of Qantas Airways, sometime in the late 1970s. In a single image, provenance, authenticity, and historical context are all confirmed: this painting passed directly from artist to recipient and has remained together with its documentation ever since.
The Painting
Pure Delights of the Bamboo Grove depicts two giant pandas at ease among bamboo, executed in guohua (ink-and-colour) technique with lively brushstrokes and gentle washes. Inscribed with title and dedication (“…並題” — “both painted and inscribed”), signed, and bearing three red artist’s seals, the work is dated by historical context to circa 1979. It has survived in excellent condition: the colours are vibrant, the paper stable, the original frame intact.
Though Zhang Zhenshi was best known for monumental oil portraiture, this work reveals his equal command of the traditional ink medium — evident in the nuanced rendering of fur, the rhythmic bamboo composition, and the confident, economical line.
The Seals & Inscription
The three red seals corroborate authorship — the middle seal contains the character 夢 (mèng), meaning “Dream,” which appears in Zhang’s other known works. The style of inscription and dedication (“…並題” meaning both painted and inscribed) is highly typical of Zhang Zhenshi’s traditional brush painting pieces, particularly those done in his later career (1970s–80s).
The Historical Context: Panda Diplomacy and Australia-China Relations
Australia formalised diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1972. Qantas became part of the relationship early: in October 1973, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam flew to Beijing on a Qantas Boeing 707, the first Australian PM to visit Communist China. The following year, Qantas provided charter flights — including a freighter carrying live cattle and sheep — for Australia’s first major trade exhibition in Beijing. By the late 1970s the airline was an established presence in Sino-Australian cultural exchange.
Meanwhile, China had developed “Panda Diplomacy” into a sophisticated instrument of foreign relations — presenting giant pandas to favoured nations as living symbols of goodwill. A painting of pandas, given by one of China’s leading artists to the chairman of Australia’s national carrier, carried precisely that symbolic weight.
Zhang Zhenshi — The Artist
Zhang Zhenshi (1914–1992) was among the most significant Chinese artists of the twentieth century.
From 1950 to 1957 he worked on the official monumental portrait(s) of Mao Zedong for Tiananmen Gate — a four-by-eight metre canvas that became the founding image of Communist China and arguably the most reproduced painting in history. In 1977 he painted the canonical portrait of Premier Zhou Enlai. His synthesis of socialist realism and traditional Chinese aesthetics defined a generation of Chinese art.
Provenance
Accompanied by an original, integrally mounted photograph of the artist presenting the work to QANTAS chairman Sir Lenox Hewitt, circa 1979; framed in China before dispatch to Australia; purchased from the family, early 21st century.
This will be offered in our next sale, late June 2026.
