Fan Zeng (b. 1938)

He was born in Nantong, Jiangsu Province in 1938. Fan Zeng was born into a family that has been dedicated to poetry, calligraphy and painting for 13 generations. Already at an early age Zeng displayed artistic talent. He was influenced mainly by the Chinese painter and caricaturist Feng Zikai.

Zeng first studied history at the Nankai University. Two years later he attended the Academy of Fine Arts to study art history and later Chinese painting. His teachers included famous artists such as Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, Jiang Zhaohe, Li and Liu Kuchan Lingcang.

The Cultural Revolution brought Zeng's creative work to a standstill for several years. in 1977 he created the first of his 'splashed ink' figures, which make him one of the most coveted Chinese artists today.

Zeng spent several years in France before returning to China in 1993 to take up a professorship at Nankai University. Zeng's works have been exhibited in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Europe.

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Zeng Fan was Born in 1938 in Nantong, Jiangsu province, Fan Zeng descends from a long line of artists, with thirteen generations dedicated to making poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting.

Fan Zeng is primarily known for his painted depictions of ancient Chinese figures, such as Laozi and Zhong Kui, and these artworks are characterized by their simple lines, vigorous brushstrokes and poetic rendition.

Zeng offered his own analysis of his artistic practice in a work of calligraphy, describing himself as 'crazy for painting, pretty good at calligraphy; occasionally writing poetry and prose to express feelings, and loves to read about history.' Fan Zeng eschews the Ming and Qing era aesthetics of traditional figure painting, which places emphasis on fine brushwork and close attention to detail, opting instead to work in the style of the old masters of the Song Dynasty.

Fan specializes in the 'splashed ink' method originally used by landscape painters, in which the artist starts by 'splashing' washes of colour to define mountains and other large landscape elements before adding the finer details in darker ink with quick, calligraphic brushstrokes. The artist notably went on to live between his home country and France, where he notably painted a portrait of Charles de Gaulle. He held solo exhibitions in Japan throughout the 1980s, and participated in various exhibitions in Asia. Fan Zeng's works are housed in major museum collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Museum of China in Beijing.