Master Fan Zeng

Born in 1938 in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, Fan Zeng is a contemporary master of traditional Chinese painting and is especially skilled in figure painting.

During the 1970s and 1980s, with reform and opening-up newly underway, China was welcoming Western influences. Yet Fan remained a determined adherent to traditional Chinese culture.

The form and spirit of his painting revealed an Eastern charm at a time when the Eastern notion tranquility gained a wider audience. Fan's works were especially popular in Hong Kong and Japan.

Fan lives in the Baochongzhai suburb of Beijing, where he works to combine poetry, calligraphy and painting in an artistic exploration of the world. His portraits, characterized by free strokes and elegance, are superb in both form and spirit.

He once wrote a self-appraisal calligraphy piece in which he described himself as "crazy about painting, pretty good at calligraphy - occasionally writing poetry and prose to express feelings, and loves to read history and understand changes."

Fan became a member of the Nantong Artists Association at the age of 13, marking his entry into art circles. Besides painting cartoons and posters required by the politics at the time, he also created his own art.

After graduating from Nantong Middle School, he was admitted to Nankai University, where he majored in history. Two years later he transferred to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to study art history and later learned Chinese painting. Fan's teachers included noted artists Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, Jiang Zhaohe, Li Kuchan, and Liu Lingcang.

Fan has since continued exploration of his artistic style. To do that he sought a profound understanding of himself, as well as of history and the present.

Part of his discovery took place at Bada Shanren Memorial Hall in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. There he says he can communicate with Bada Shanren's works, and in doing so, transcend time and space.

Bada Shanren was also known as Zhu Da. He was a master of traditional Chinese painting whose miserable life fuelled his artistic achievements. His works marked a new height in painting by Chinese literati.

Fan's confidence is borne of years of hard work. In 1990, he traveled to Paris where he spent day after day producing copies of Bada Shanren's paintings. In doing so he used up more than 3,000 sheets of paper and scores of brushes.

"The closer I am to Bada Shanren, the farther away I am from the Louvre Museum," Fan said. "It's a miraculous experience, a deep exploration of the essence of Chinese culture."

Part of Fan's artistic exploration was at the National Museum of Chinese History. In 1962, after graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he was sent to the museum to work. There he had the opportunity to copy numerous masterpieces. He concentrated especially on appreciating the subtlety of works by the ancient masters.

Fan fell severely ill in 1977. When facing the possibility of death, he decided to do something meaningful. With the encouragement of a good friend, he began to draw illustrations for the novels of Lu Xun, known as the father of modern Chinese literature.

The Fan Zeng Art Museum was opened to the public in Japan in 1983, a rare honor for a foreign artist - the only other has been Spain's Pablo Picasso.

Fan spent several years in Paris, visiting museums and other places of interest. After returning to China in 1993, he began working as a professor at Nankai University as the dean of the Oriental Art Department.

He said he now feels a spiritual connection with the subjects of his paintings. He has recorded many such experiences in his book, Beyond Art.

Fan's family comes from a long line of Song Dynasty descendants. Thirteen generations since the Ming Dynasty have been devoted to poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting. He started school at age of four, even then a talented and diligent student.

Since an early age he was greatly influenced by Feng Zikai, a noted painter and prime practitioner of the blunt, naive style of figure painting.

Young Fan 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 tradition of calligraphy.

Studying a calligraphy copybook and practicing handwriting was his daily homework.