Fan Zeng: Master of Chinese Figure Painting and Poetry

Fan Zeng: Master of Chinese Figure Painting and Poetry

Born on July 5, 1938, in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, Fan Zeng (courtesy name Shiyi, studio name Baochong Zhai) is one of China’s best-known painters, poets and classical scholars. His titles include lifetime researcher at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, lifetime professor and university trustee at Nankai University, chair professor at Peking University, honorary dean of the Chinese Painting Method Research Institute and of the Academy of Painting and Calligraphy at the National Museum of China, and UNESCO “Special Advisor on Multiculturalism.”

His path began, as he jokes, with life’s accidents. He entered Nankai University’s history department, then moved to the Central Academy of Fine Arts — first to art history, and, after that department was dissolved, into Chinese painting. The faculty he met there shaped him for life: figure painter Jiang Zhaohe, xieyi master Li Kuchan, landscape painter Li Keran and small-xieyi painter Guo Weiqu. “Their brushwork and their modeling influenced me profoundly,” he has recalled.

*Painter, classical scholar and poet Fan Zeng.*

The writer Qian Zhongshu once praised his painting: “His work ranks above the top grade; his figures appear as bodies beyond the body” — worldly form carrying a spirit that exceeds it. Fan Zeng’s self-assessment is characteristically dry: “Obsessed with painting, competent at calligraphy; an occasional writer of verse that vents my own feelings; a lover of books and history, with some grasp of change past and present.”

His subjects range across figures, landscapes and bird-and-flower themes, but the human figure is his signature: ancient sages, poets, hermits and legends of myth. Through fine brushwork and a distinctive viewpoint, he gives these historical figures inner life, so that viewers seem to converse across time.

A Gallery of Round Fans, Scrolls and Couplets

*”Descendant of the High Lord Gaoyang” — the opening line of Qu Yuan’s Li Sao (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*Bodhidharma’s Awakening (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*Second Rhapsody on the Red Cliff (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*The Play of Fighting Crickets (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*The Sage of Calligraphy at the Ink Pond (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*The Spirit Monkey Presents Longevity (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*”You you” — the deer call one another, from the Book of Songs (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*Distant Guests Return (diameter 54.5 cm).*

*Bo Le, the legendary judge of horses (diameter 33.5 cm).*

*Boy Training a Calf (painting diameter 38 cm; calligraphy 15 × 38.5 cm).*

*Before the Eyes, Nothing but Life (painting diameter 38 cm; calligraphy 15 × 38.5 cm).*

*The Fish Knows It Must Not Leave the Deep (diameter 44 cm).*

*The duck’s legs are short — lengthen them and it grieves; the crane’s legs are long — cut them and it sorrows. After Zhuangzi (diameter 44 cm).*

*Laozi Riding Through the Pass (diameter 44 cm).*

*Inner Spirit Blooms in Poetry (33 × 131 cm).*

*Goodness Toward Others (33 × 131 cm).*

*A Thousand Li, Step by Step (33 × 131 cm).*

*Oranges south of the Huai, bitter zhi berries north of it (33 × 131 cm).*

*Heaven, Rouse Yourself — after Gong Zizhen’s line (33 × 131 cm).*

*Seeing Surpasses Hearing (33 × 131 cm).*

*Tranquility Reveals One’s Aim (33 × 131 cm).*

*Firm Roots, Lush Leaves (33 × 131 cm).*

*Nurturing Orchids (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*A Gentle Breeze (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*Tea and Zen (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*The Hidden Orchid (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*Planting Angelica (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*Tranquility (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*The Dragon Roams (33.5 × 67.5 cm).*

*Couplet scroll (136 × 34.5 cm × 2).*

*Couplet scroll (136 × 34.5 cm × 2).*

*Couplet: Still Water, Empty Mountains (136 × 34.5 cm × 2).*

*A seven-character quatrain in self-account (130 × 65.5 cm). Image source: Rongbaozhai.*

If Fan Zeng’s painting or calligraphy speaks to you, Badou Art can arrange commissions for collection, as well as custom calligraphy inscriptions and plaques, tailored to your needs. Our specialists are glad to advise.

Source: https://www.badouart.com/14797.html