Page 286 - Fine Chinese Art Bonhams London May 2018

Lin Fengmian (1900-1991)

Lin Fengmian林風眠 (1900-1991) is considered a pioneer of
modern Chinese painting, blending and synthesising Chinese
and Western styles. Originally from Guangdong province, he
displayed a passion for painting and went to France, spending
the early years of his career in Europe. In 1920 he attended
the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in
Paris. Three years later in 1923, he moved to Berlin for a study
tour. Eventually in 1925 he returned to China, where he became
the principal of the Beiping Vocational Art School, now Central
Academy of Fine Arts. In 1928, with encouragement from Cai
Yuanpei, he also founded the National Academy of Art (now
called the China Academy of Art) in Hangzhou, becoming its
first principal and taught western painting. During the Cultural
Revolution in the 1960’s and 70’s many of his works were lost
and destroyed. Following denunciations, Lin even had to destroy
his own works and was sent to prison for four years. In 1977,
following his release, he left China to visit his family that had
moved to Brazil, but eventually settled in Hong Kong, where he
remained until he died in 1991.