Artist Biographies Page Two

Pu Hsin-yu (1896-1963) 

Pu Hsin- Yu (PuRu) was a Native of Beijing an a member of the Imperial Family.  Pu Hsin-Yu changed his name to Pu Ru following the overthrow of the Ching Dynasty and used the name Pu Hsin-Yu when he painted.  Pu Hsin-Yu is best known for his Landscape Paintings done in traditional Chinese Painting style.  Pu Hsin-Yu spent seven years at the Chien Tai Monastery on Mt. Hsi where Pu used the name Hsi-shan I-shih, "retired official of Mt. Hsi" when he painted.

 Pan Tianshou (1897-1971)

Pan Tianshou was born in Ninghai, Zhejiang Province.  Pan tianshou was very adept at Chinese painting, Calligraphy, Poetry and was a Professor of Art.  Pan Tianshou's paintings show a typically Chinese way of presenting nature through the use of lines.  Pan Tianshou's brush strokes are penetrating and powerful, and show strong contrasts and tonal variations between black and white.  Pan Tianshou enjoyed painting with his fingers and his paintings are refreshing, strong and filled with a bold vitality.  Pan Tianshou's paintings reflected a keen sense ofthe times in which he lived.  Pan Tianshou was the Director of Zhejiang Art Institute and Chairman of the Zhejiang Branch of the Federation of Chinese Artist and a Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Chinese Artist.

Lin Fengmian ( 1900 - 1991 )

Lin Fengmian [Lin Feng-mien; Lin Fengmin]

Lin Fengmian was born in Mei xian, Guangdong Province, 1900; d 1991). Lin Fengmian was a Chinese art educator and painter. His grandfather was a carver of tombstones, as was his father, who also learnt to paint. Lin Fengmian began carving and painting as a child, often copying from the Jiezi yuan huazhuan (‘Mustard-seed Garden painting manual’; 1679 and 1701). Lin Fengmian sold his first painting at the age of nine. In 1918 Lin Fengmian   moved to Shanghai, where he saw an advertisement for a work-study program in France. That winter Lin Fengmian began work in France as a signboard painter, after which he spent some months studying French at Fontainebleau and elsewhere. One school had a collection of plaster casts, which Lin Fengmian began to draw in his spare time. In the spring of 1920 Lin Fengmian entered the Dijon National Academy of Fine Arts and began to draw figures in charcoal. Within six months he had been recommended by the head of the school, to be a relief sculptor, to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  Lin Fengmian also studied drawing and oil painting at the Cormon art studio in Paris and learned much from the collections of the Louvre and the Musée Guimet. In 1922  Lin Fengmian's oil painting "Autumn" was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne. Lin Fengmian spent 1923 in Berlin, where he was introduced to the northern European movements in painting. In 1924 Lin Fengmian contributed over 40 oil paintings and Chinese-media paintings to an exhibition of ancient and modern Chinese art in Strasbourg, organized by the Chinese government; these revealed Lin Fengmian's interest in combining Eastern and Western concepts in his painting. Two large oil paintings were accepted for the 1924 Salon d’Automne. The following year Lin Fengmian exhibited in the Chinese section of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs.

Li Kuchan (1898-1983)

Li Kuchan is from Gaotang County in Shandong Province.