Lin Fengmian

Lin Fengmian (November 22, 1900- August 12, 1991), born in Meizhou, Guangdong, China, was a famous painter, art educator, and the first president of the National Academy of Art (now renamed the China Academy of Art). His family name was Shaoqiong and his courtesy name was Fengming. He has loved painting since childhood and is an advocate and representative figure of the artistic concept of "integration of Chinese and Western cultures". He is skilled in depicting female figures, Peking Opera characters, and fishing village customs. His representative works include "Spring Clear", "Riverside", "Female Ladies", etc. After graduating from Meizhou Middle School in 1917, he was admitted to Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. In 1918, he participated in a work study program to study in France. After returning to China in 1925, he served as the president and professor of the National Beiping Art College. In 1928, he was invited by Cai Yuanpei to Hangzhou to oversee the establishment of the National Academy of Arts (later known as the China Academy of Art) and served as its president. He advocates the educational philosophy of "inclusiveness and academic freedom" and welcomes talents without any constraints. On August 12, 1991 at 10:00, he passed away at the Hong Kong Hospital due to complications of heart disease and pneumonia, at the age of 91.

Lin Fengmian (1900-1991), whose family name was Shaoqiong and courtesy name was Fengming, later changed to Fengmian, was from Gegongling Village, Baihua Town, Meixian County, Guangdong Province.

Born into a poor peasant family. Father Burn, also a stonemason, worked on Song style inscriptions. Feng Mian had a love for painting since childhood, and in middle school, his works were often praised by teachers.

Mr. Lin Fengmian was a master of the Chinese art world in the 20th century and an important founder of modern art education in China. He is known as a pioneer of modern art in China and an advocate, pioneer, and most important representative of the "integration of Chinese and Western" artistic ideal. He advocates the educational philosophy of "inclusiveness and academic freedom". When he served as the first president of the National Academy of Arts (predecessor of the China Academy of Art), he successively trained a large number of art masters such as Li Keran, Wu Guanzhong, Wang Chaowen, Ai Qing, Zhao Wuji, Zhao Chunxiang, Zhu Dequn, etc; At the same time, he was also one of the earliest painters to reform traditional Chinese painting, exploring the combination of the advantages and aesthetics of oil painting and traditional Chinese painting. His works have had a significant impact on modern Chinese painting art and are known as the 'father of modern Chinese painting art'. He has published a collection of academic papers titled 'Art Essays' and a picture album titled' Complete Works of Lin Fengmian '. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, he served as the Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Shanghai Branch of the Artists Association, a member of the Shanghai Political Consultative Conference, and a consultant to the China Artists Association.

On November 22, 1900, Lin Fengmian was born in Gegongling Village, White House Town, Mei County. He loved painting since childhood and went to France for work study programs at the age of 19.

After graduating from Meizhou Middle School in 1917, he was admitted to Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. In July, Lin Fengmian, who had just graduated from middle school, received a letter from his classmate Lin Wenzheng from Meizhou Middle School in Shanghai, learning about the news of studying in France through work study programs. He bid farewell to his father and went to Shanghai to study with Lin Wenzheng as the sixth batch of students studying in France through work study programs.

In 1918, he participated in a work study program to study in France. Due to his poor family background, he received funding from the Mauritian overseas Chinese group, the Fengmian Martyrs' Association in Mauritius.

In 1920, he enrolled in the DIJON National Academy of Fine Arts in France. Soon after, he transferred to the National Academy of Fine Arts in Paris and studied art at various museums in Paris.

In 1921, the two of them transferred to the National Higher School of Fine Arts in Dijon, France, where Lin Fengmian was highly appreciated. In September, he transferred to the National Higher School of Fine Arts in Paris and was able to study in the studio of Cormon, where he had extensive exposure to various art forms and what was considered "Eastern art" in the European art world at the time.

Participated in the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Decorative Arts. In the winter of that year, he returned to China and served as the President and Professor, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Head of the Department of Western Painting at the National Beiping Art College.

In the spring of 1926, a personal art exhibition was held at the Beijing Art Academy.

In 1927, he was appointed as the Chairman of the National Art Education Committee.

In 1928, he founded Hangzhou West Lake National Academy of Arts and served as its president. The following year, the "Yapolo" society was organized and the "Yapolo" magazine was published.

In 1928, Lin Fengmian was invited by Cai Yuanpei to Hangzhou to oversee the establishment of the National Academy of Arts (later known as the China Academy of Art) and served as its president. After liberation, he served as a painter at the Shanghai Chinese Academy of Painting. Lin Fengmian settled in Hong Kong in the 1970s and held a solo art exhibition in Paris in 1979, achieving great success. His works include "Spring Breeze", "Riverside", "Ladies", "Landscape", "Still Life", etc. He has written "A New Discussion on Chinese Painting" and published works such as "Lin Fengmian's Painting Collection".

In 1928, he was recognized and mentored by the academic giant and founder of the academy, Cai Yuanpei, and appointed as the first president of the National Academy of Arts, the first higher art institution in China. He advocated the educational philosophy of "inclusiveness and academic freedom" and recruited talents without restriction. In order to promote the noble sentiments and artistic spirit of Mr. Lin Fengmian in the academy, the China Academy of Art has established the "Lin Fengmian Scholarship" since 2010 to motivate outstanding graduate students who are diligent in learning, brave in innovation, persistent in pursuing the art cause, and actively engaged in artistic creation and research.

In 1931, he led an art education inspection team to Japan for investigation. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, he taught at the Chongqing National Art School. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, he taught at the West Lake National Academy of Arts in Hangzhou. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, he served as Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Artists Association and a member of the Shanghai Municipal Political Consultative Conference.

I settled in Hong Kong in 1977. I have held solo art exhibitions in France, Paris, Japan, and Taipei, China;

In 1989, during the celebration of the establishment of the Meizhou Hakka Friendship Association, more than 80 works from the 1970s were exhibited at the Meizhou Great Hall.

He passed away on August 12, 1991 in Hong Kong at the age of 91. Works such as "New Discussions on Chinese Painting" and "Lin Fengmian's Painting Collection" have been passed down through generations.

Lin Fengmian devoted his entire life to art education and artistic creation. His works incorporate elements of traditional Chinese painting while also incorporating techniques from Western painting, earning him the title of a great pioneer in the fusion of Chinese and Western painting art. During his stay in France, he diligently studied Western painting techniques and integrated them into Chinese culture, creating many oil paintings with anti feudal themes. His acclaimed works at the time, "Humanity" and "Pain," were representative works of this period. After returning to China, he also studied traditional Chinese painting, such as Sui and Tang landscapes, Dunhuang grotto murals, Song Dynasty porcelain, Han Dynasty stone carvings, Warring States lacquerware, Republic of China woodblock New Year paintings, shadow puppetry, and so on. In addition, he also studied Chinese literature, poetry, and music seriously to enrich his artistic literacy. In terms of creation, he respects the excellent traditions of Chinese and foreign painting and folk art, but strongly opposes following the tradition of predecessors and sticking to old ways; Advocate for mutual communication between Eastern and Western art, complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses, and developing new Chinese art based on their own national culture. His works pursue artistic conception, emphasize charm and technique, and emphasize the unity of authenticity and decoration; The composition is often dense and impenetrable, but does not feel cramped. It uses bright colors to show softness in intensity and richness in simplicity. It is both contradictory and unified, forming its own unique style. According to a report by Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po on August 14, 1991, Lin Fengmian's works "blend Chinese and Western cultural traditions into one, creating a unique personal art style that is renowned in the international art world." His representative works include "Heron" and others.

Influenced by Cai Yuanpei's aesthetic education thought, Lin Fengmian inherited the waves of the May Fourth New Culture Movement, advocated the New Art Movement, actively took on the responsibility of using aesthetic education to improve and perfect public morality, and thus promoted social transformation and progress. He was determined to reform art education, inviting painter Qi Baishi, who came from a carpenter background, to the podium, hiring French professor Crodo to teach Western painting, and proposing slogans such as "advocating art shared by all classes of the nation".