張大千（1899-1983）說：「畫花，要當作是舞蹈中的美女，務求其婀娜有致。」又說：「畫花卉用筆，要活潑而不是草率，要有活力而自然。」1其筆底的花鳥，不僅是精品、妙品、並且「畫中有詩，詩中有畫」，詩與畫相輔相成。張大千堪稱世界近代繪畫史上偉大的畫家，更是中國在20世紀中繪畫史上的靈魂人物。從30年代徐悲鴻（1895-1953）2稱他為「五百年來一大千」，到1983年去世時楚戈（1931-2011）3評之為「最後的大師」，半個世紀，前後呼應，足以證明他在這一世紀的中國畫壇上的特殊地位。在進入21世紀的今日，他在藝術上的聲望地位不但絲毫未減，反而倒有與日俱增的聲勢。他之所以能得享盛名，主要是因為他努力用功，充滿了多采多姿的經歷又帶傳奇性色彩；同時他在繪畫風格上，具有各種豐富而多元的表現，例如：華麗富貴、清潤秀逸、氣勢磅礴以及典雅纖細、狂狷奔放，真是極盡變化之能事。所以迎合了世人的不同喜好，也形成了其名氣廣大的潮流聲勢。

Chang Dai-chien once said that flowers should be painted as beautiful women dancing. He also said that, for flower paintings, brush-strokes should be lively and vigorous. In his works of flowers and birds, the paintings and the poetic elements are blended seamlessly. This study will first describe Chang Dai-chien's role in contemporary Chinese art history and then perform a close reading of exquisite works by Chang in the NMH collection. We hope such a close reading of Chang's paintings can further explain his solid status as one of the master painters in the history of Chinese art.