Born in 1938 in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, Fan Zeng is a contemporary master of
traditional Chinese painting and is especially skilled in figure
painting. His works fuse elements of landscape, flower-and-bird and
figure painting, as well as forms of poetry and calligraphy. His
paintings of ancient figures are famous for their simple but vivid
style and vigorous strokes.
Fan has held exhibitions in many places, including Hong Kong and
Japan and is the first middle-aged Chinese painter whose works have
entered two of the world's largest auction houses, Southeby's and
Christie's. Since 1999, when Beijing began to auction paintings and
calligraphic works, Fan's art attracted the attention of many
Beijing dealers.
Fan has a deep passion for traditional Chinese art. He once
wrote a self-appraisal in a piece of calligraphy work and described
himself as "crazy for painting, pretty good at calligraphy;
occasionally writing poetry and prose to express feelings and loves
to read about history."
Fan's family comes from a long line of Song Dynasty descendants
with thirteen generations devoted to making poetry, prose,
calligraphy and painting. Fan started school at age of four and was
a talented and diligent student. Since an early age Fan was greatly
influenced by Feng Zikai, a famous Chinese painter and the major
practitioner of the blunt, naive style of figure painting.
Young Fan Zeng was fond of scribbling on the ground, walls and
doors. The immature four-stroke Buddha figure he learned from his
father revealed his talent for painting. Calligraphy was also an
important subject for him, since the Fans had a long cherished
tradition of calligraphy. Reading a calligraphy copybook (a book
containing models of handwriting for learners to imitate) and
practicing handwriting was daily homework for Fan. His family
environment nurtured Fan's understanding of traditional Chinese
culture, which has been deeply impressed into his temper, character
and soul.
Fan became a member of the Nantong Artists Association at the
age of 13, which was his entry into art circles. Besides painting
cartoons and posters required by the political situation at the
time, Fan also made his own artistic creations.
Fan's Chinese teacher at middle school was the first to discover
his talents. The teacher found Fan could recite many of the
classics by Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi and other famous poets. Once
when visiting Fan's family, he found Fan was imitating a
masterpiece. To his surprise, Fan had a torch tied to his cap, and
explained that he was learning from Michelangelo!
After graduating from Nantong Middle School in Jiangsu Province,
he was admitted to Nankai University, majoring in history. Two
years later he transferred to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to
study art history where he later learned Chinese painting. Fan's
teachers included famous artists such as Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, Jiang
Zhaohe, Li Kuchan, and Liu Lingcang.
Among these masters, Fan had the closest relationship with Jiang
Zhaohe, who is not only a famous artist, but also an outstanding
art teacher. He demanded a lot of Fan's ability to observe and his
eye for details. He also warned Fan not to be obsessed with color
and light, but to pay more attention to the structure of the object
being painted according to the traditional Chinese painting
methods. To express his gratitude, Fan painted a piece of
portraiture as a gift for Jiang's 80th birthday.
Jiang Zhaohe, by Fan Zeng
Fan chose the historical figure Cai Wenji for his graduation
project. He read a lot of historical documents, as well as Guo
Moruo's historical drama Cai Wenji , so as to portray the figure
accurately. He made three drafts in all before he finally presented
Wenji returning to Han to Guo, who was so impressed by the work
that he even wrote inscription (poems or comments by the artist,
his friends, or later owners and admirers that have been written
directly on the surface of the calligraphy or painting) for it.
Since 1962 Fan has worked at the National Museum of Chinese
History compiling records of traditional Chinese clothing. The
ten-year Cultural Revolution brought Fan both physical and mental
torture, which stalled his artistic creativity for a long time.
Fan's artistic life revived with the creation of the "splashed
ink" figure Zhong Kui in 1977. It was the spring festival at the
Great Hall of the People and Fan was invited to draw Zhong Kui, the
protector against evil spirits and demons, while being broadcasted
live on TV. Afterward audiences all over the country remembered
Zhong Kui and of course, Fan Zeng. Since then, Zhong Kui has become
an important symbol of Fan's artistic creations.
Zhong Kui, by Fan Zeng
Traditional Chinese figure painting in the Ming and Qing
Dynasties places an emphasis on fine brushwork with close attention
to detail but Fan follows in the footsteps of the great painters of
the Song Dynasty in his use of simple and vigorous brush strokes
and dynamic delineation of form. He specializes in the "splashed
ink" style of figure painting. The "splashed ink" style was first
in painting landscape.
Artists usually begin by "splashing" the ink washes used to
define mountains, hills and other landscape elements, and then
added the finer details (temples, boats, trees, and people) in
darker ink with quick, highly calligraphic strokes, which requires
the artist has an idea in the mind before starting painting.
Fan fell into a severe illness in 1977, which nearly caused him
to death. When facing threaten of death, he decided to do something
really meaningful. With the encouragement of a good friend, he
began to draw illustrations for Lu Xun's (who is known as the
father of modern Chinese literature) novels. In order to spare his
two hands for drawing, he asked the nurse to use the veins on his
feet for injections and intravenous drips, a much more painful
method. With two months' efforts, he not only successfully
recovered from the illness, but also completed the project with 44
illustrations.
Illustration for Lu Xun's novel, by Fan Zeng
Fan traveled to Japan to hold an exhibition in 1979, and caused
an immediate sensation. Sankei News, an influential newspaper in
Japan even made a thorough introduction for ten contemporary
Chinese painters as background information, including Wu Changshuo,
Huang Binhong, Xu Beihong, Qi Baishi, Huang Zhou, Li Keran, Fu
Baoshi, Pan Tianshou, Li Kuchan and Fan Zeng. The Fan Zeng Art
Gallery was opened to the public in Japan in 1983 a rare case for
foreign artists. The only other one to be so honored was the
legendary Picasso!
Fan spent several years in France around Paris, during which he
visited museums and places of interests in Europe. After returning
to China in 1993, he has been working as professor at Nankai
University and the dean of the Oriental Art Department.
(ChinaCulture.org April 7, 2006)
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