Biographical Index of Artists
Cai Chusheng 蔡楚生 (1906-1968) Film director. Born in Shanghai and raised in Chaoyang, Guangdong. In 1927 he moved to Shanghai where he worked as an actor, advertiser, playwright and assistant director. In 1929 he joined the Mingxing Film Company in Shanghai to assist director Zheng Zhengqiu (1888-1935), whose influence was later conspicuously reflected in his cinematology. In 1931 he transferred to the Lianhua Film Company and directed New Women (1934) a slient film written by Sun Shiyi (1904-66), a woman writer who articulated the female voice. In 1934 he moved to Hong Kong. He died in Guangzhou. His filmography includes: Pink Dream (1931); The Lost Lambs (1936); The Spring River Flows East (1947-8); and others.
Chen Baoyi 陳抱一 (1893-1945) Painter. Born in Shanghai. He was the son of a wealthy merchant. With fellow student, Liu Haisu, he attended the painting school of Zhou Xiang (1871-1933 ) in Shanghai, who encouraged young artists to study Western art abroad. In 1913 and 1916 he visited Japan and learned oil painting at the Kawabata Academy, and the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts under Fujishima Takeji, who had spent several years in Paris. In 1921 he graduated from the Tokyo Academy and returned to Shanghai, where he established his own painting studio. He taught at the Shanghai College of Fine Arts, Zhonghua University of the Arts, and other institutions. In 1926 he published a painting manual titled Foundations of Oil Painting Technique. During the War of Resistance, he remained in Shanghai and continued to paint under Japanese oppression.
Chen Chengbo 陳澄波 (1895-1947) Painter. Born in Taiwan. In 1913 he entered Taipei Normal College where he studied under Ishikawa Kin’ichiro (1871-1945) whose English watercolors influenced Taiwanese artists. From 1924 to 29 he studied Western art at the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts. In 1926 and 1927, he earned recognitions at the Tei Ten Exhibition in Japan. In 1929 he moved to Shanghai and became a jury member of the first Shanghai National Art Exhibition and taught in the Xinhua College of the Arts. His Western painting reflects traditional Qing Dynasty Chinese ink paintings such as the works by Ni Yunlin and Zhu Da. In 1933 he returned to Taiwan and organized the Taiyang Art Society. In 1947 he was involved in the 228 (Feb. 28th) incident and died in Taiwan.
Chen Qiucao 陳秋草 (1906-1988) Painter. Born in Shanghai. He was a founding member of the White Goose Painting Society, which was a private studio that explored Western art. In 1925 he graduated from the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. After 1949, he remained active in Shanghai in several capacities, including: faculty of the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy; Director of the Shanghai Museum; and Council member of the Chinese Artists’ Association.
Chen Yanqiao 陳煙橋 (1911-1970) Woodcut artist. Born in Guangdong. In 1928 he entered the Guangdong Municipal College of Fine Arts to study oil painting, but in 1931 transferred to the Xinhua College of the Arts in Shanghai, in order to learn the art of woodcut. In 1931 he joined the League of Left-Wing Artists and in 1934 organized the Wild Wheat Woodcut Group with Chen Tiegeng and others. In 1936 he participated in founding the Shanghai Woodcut artists’ Association and other groups, and in the same year published a book titled Mr. Lu Xun and Woodcut Prints. After 1949, he held many leading positions in the art world, including the Secretary General of the Chinese Artists’ Association.
Chen Yanyin 陳研音 (1958-) Installation artist and sculptor, Born in Shanghai. In 1988 she graduated from the Sculpture Department at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. In 2000 she received MA from Sydney College of Arts. She currently lives and works in Shanghai. Her selected solo exhibitions have included: Box Series, at Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute, Shanghai (1994) and Diary at Sydney Museum in Australia (2000); Her installations were selected in the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Australia (1997) ;Hallf of the Sky, Bonn, Germany (1999); Junction: Architectural Experiment of Chinese Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2003) and many other exhibitions.
Cheng Bugao 程步高 (1896-1966) Film director. In 1922 he moved to Shanghai. In 1928 he joined the Mingxing Film Company and produced films that conveyed his socialist and realist ideology. Spring Silkworms (1933) was a silent film adated from a story by Mao Dun about a Zhejiang village outside of Shanghai. In this film, he expressed the left-wing celebration of peasant life with the indirect reference to the Japanese threat to China’s territorial and economic integrity. This was the first major screen adaptation of the May Fourth Movement. During the War of Resistance against the Japanese (1937-45) he exressed a sense of Chinese nationalism in his films. In 1947 he moved to Hong Kong where he resided until his death from illness.
Ding Yi 丁一 (1962-) Painter. Born in Shanghai. In 1960 He graduated from the Art Department of Shanghai University. Currently he is a teacher of Shanghai School of Art & Design. He held solo exhibitions in Guangzhou (1994); Comiso, Italy (1995); Shanghai (1997) and Berlin (2002). His painting exhibited in numerous shows throughout the World, including China Avant-garde, Beijing (1989); The 45th Venice Biennale, Italy (1993); First Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane, Australia (1993); The 11th Sydney Biennale, Australia(1998); the First Shanghai Biennale (1996); In between Limits, Gwangju, Korea (1997); Jiangnan, Vancouver, Canada (1998); Not a Chinese Show, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (1999); the First Yakohama Triennial, Japan (2001) and the First Guangzhou Triennial, China (2002).
Fang Ganmin 方幹民 (1906-1984) Painter. Born in Zhejiang. In 1924 he entered the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. In1926 he went to France to study Western art under Laurens at the Ecolo Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1929 he returned to China and taught at the Xinhua College of the Arts in Shanghai and a year later at the National Academy of the Arts In Hangzhou. In 1939 he left the teaching job and became a historical painter. In 1958 he rejoined the faculty of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou and remained there through the Cultural Revolution.
Fei Mu 費穆 (1906-1951) Film director. Born in Shanghai. In 1916 he moved to Beijing, and then in 1930 to Tianjin, where he worked as Editor-in-Chief at the Huabei Film Company. In 1932 he joined the Lianhua Film Company in Shanghai, which was one of the two important production companies formed by Shanghai’s left-wing filmmakers to spearhead a post-war revival in Chinese cinema. In 1948 he directed Spring in a Small Town with the Wenhua Company, in which he created a chamber drama to express his ambivalent emotions toward the present and future of China. In 1949 he moved to Hong Kong where he died two years later from illness at age 45.
Fu Baoshi 傅抱石 (1904-1965) Painter and art historian. Born in Jiangxi. He studied ink painting and seal-engraving at the Provincial First Normal School in Nanchang. After graduation he taught at the elementary school in his hometown. In 1933 he went to Japan and studied art history at the Tokyo Imperial Academy of Fine Art. In 1935 he returned to China and taught at the Art Department of Central University in Nanjing, invited by Xu Beihong. In1937 he joined writer Guo Moruo (1892-1978) to work for the propaganda team of the government and moved to Chongqing later. After the war ended in 1945 he moved back to Nanjing and taught at the Central University again. He was the President of Jiangsu Chinese Painting Academy before his sudden death in 1965.
Guan Liang 關良(1900-1986) Painter. Born in Guangdong. In 1917 he went to Japan to study Western art at the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts, the Kawabata Painting Academy and the Pacific Painting Academy. He was influenced by Nakamura Fusetsu and Fujishima Takeji. In 1923 he returned to China and taught painting at various institutions including: Shanghai College of Fine Arts; Shanghai University of the Arts; and Hangzhou Academy of the Arts. In 1926 he was appointed to work on propaganda paintings for the Northern Expeditionary Revolutionary Troop. During the War of Resistance (1937-45), he left Shanghai and worked in Hong Kong, Kunming, and Chengdu. After the liberation, the positions he held included: Professor at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts; the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy; Council of the Chinese Artists’ Association, and President of the Shanghai Artists’ Association. He successfully combined the Western painting technique and traditional Chinese ink painting. In 1957 he visited east Germany and held a solo exhibition in Berlin.
Guan Zilan 關紫蘭 (1903-1986) Painter. Originally from Guangdong, she learned oil painting from Chen Baoyi at the Shanghai Zhonghua University of the Arts. In1927 she visited Japan to pursue her Western painting training. Her painting style employed bright colors and coarse brushstrokes, and reflected the influence of Chinese folk art and Japanese Impressionism. After 1949 she remained in Shanghai.
He Baito 何白濤 (1911-1939) Woodcut artist. Born in Guangdong. In 1933 he entered the Xinhua College of the Arts in Shanghai, and in the same year organized the Wild Wheat Woodcut Group with Chen Yanqiao and others. In 1934, when he graduated from the college, he returned to Guangdong and taught in various high schools while working on prints which expressed the political stance of his mentor, Lu Xun. At age 26, he died from illness.
He Mengfu 賀夢斧 Film director and playwright. He worked in 1930’s in Shanghai film industry. His wrote and directed films including Scene under the Moon; Daughter of the General (1937); Wind and Snow in Taihang Mountain (1939). He was also one of the writers for The Night of City (1933).
Hu Jieming 胡芥鳴 (1957-) video and installation artist. Born in Shanghai. In 1984 he received a BFA degree from the Fine Art Department of Shanghai Light Industry Technical College. He currently teaches at the Department of Art Design of Shanghai Light Industry Technical College His selected solo exhibitions have included: Witness & Game at East China Normal University (1994) and Raft of the Medusa at the Center for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, Canada (2002). He participated in group exhibitions including Jiangnan, Vancouver (1998); 010101: Art in Technological Times, San Francisco, USA (2000) and the First Guangzhou Triennial, China (2002)
Hu Yichuan 胡一川 (1910-1991) Woodcut artist. Born in Fujian. In 1929 he entered the Hangzhou National Academy of the Arts and joined the Eighteen Art Society. In 1931 he organized an exhibition of the Society members in Shanghai, and joined the League of Left-Wing Artists. In 1933 he was arrested for his political involvement and after his release in 1937, he moved to Yan’an to teach in the Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature. After 1949, he held many teaching jobs and later became the President of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Council of Chinese Artists’ Association.
Huang Binhong 黃賓虹 (1865-1955) Painter, Critic and Connoisseur. Born in Zhejiang. In 1906 he taught literature and organized the Huang Society, which published the anti-Qing revolutionary statement in Zhejiang. When his political leanings were revealed in 1907, he fled to Shanghai where he spent the next thirty years; for the first ten years he edited numerous literary and art journals, and then turned to art education. In 1924, he began to teach in the Xinhua College of the Arts and the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. He established the Chinese Calligraphy, Painting, and Seal-Engraving Society (1925), the Shanghai Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Conservation Society (1929), the Chinese Painting Association (1931), and others. In 1937 he moved to Beijing and taught at the National College of the Arts. Since 1948 he taught at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. After the Liberation he held positions as: Vice-Chairman of the Eastern China Artists’ Association; Vice-Chairman of the Shanghai Artists’ Association and more. His contribution to reviving the Anhui School of landscape painting was enormous.
Huang Shanding 黃山定 (1910- ) Woodcut artist. Born in Guangdong. In 1931 he moved to Shanghai and involved in establishing the Eighteen Art Society. He also participated in the Summer Workshop of Woodcut organized by Lu Xun. In 1932 he joined the Spring Field Art Institute and was arrested in July for his revolutionary art. In 1935 he was released, and in 1938 he went to Yan’an in order to teach at the Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature. After 1949, he taught Marxism theory in various universities.
Huang Xinbo 黃新波 (1915-1980 ) Woodcut artist. Born in Guangdong. In 1933 he studied at the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. He organized the Anonymous Woodcut Society. In 1934 he joined the League of Left-Wing Writers and the League of Left-Wing Artists, and in 1935 visited Japan to encourage the Tokyo brunch of Chinese left-wing league. In 1936, he returned to Shanghai and organized the Shanghai Woodcut artists’ Association. During the War of Resistance against the Japanese, he produced works expressing strong anti-Japanese propaganda in Guangzhou and Guilin. After 1949 he held the position of Chairman of the Guangdong Artists’ Association, Vice-Chairman of Chinese Artists’ Association, and others.
Jin Meisheng 金梅生 (1902-1989) Calender painter. Born in Shanghai and studied Western painting before he entered the Commercial Press in 1921. In the 1920s and 1930s he was a prolific and well-known designer of commercial calendar posters which employed fashion beauties, Chinese operas, classic literatures and historical stories as the subjet matters.
After 1949 he was a member of Chinese Artists Association and devoted himself to New Year Paintings.
Kunishiro, Mitsutani 満谷国四郎 (1874-1936) Painter. He received early training at Painting Schools of Goseda Horyu and Koyama Shotaro. In 1900 he went to France and studied oil painting. In 1902 he returned to Japan and participated in establishing the Pacific Painting Society, which contributed to the development of Western painting in Japan. In 1907 he was chosen to be a jury member at the first Bun Ten Exhibition. In 1911 he revisited Europe, where the influence of Post-Impressionism and Cubism caused a shift in his realistic painting style. He visited China several times.
Lai Shaoqi 賴少奇 (1915 -2000) Woodcut artist and painter. Born in Puning, Guangdong. He studied at Guangzhou Minicipal College of Fine Art in 1934 and participated in the Modern Printmaking Study Group. In 1935 he exhibited his woodcuts with other two artists in Guangzhou. In 1939 he joined the revolutionary army. After 1949, he held many leading positions in the art world as well as in the government, including the Ministor of Propoganda in Anhui Province. He spent his spare time on ink painting and calligraphy.
Lang Jinshan 郎靜山 (1892-1995) Photographer. Born in Jiangsu. In 1911 he started to work for Shen Daily in Shanghai. From 1926 to 1937 he published his photographs in the Time Dialy. Since 1921 he participated to numerous international photography salons and won over one hundred awards. In 1928 he established the Chinese Photography Research Institute, which was the earliest photographical institution in China. In 1930, he taught Photography in Shanghai, contributing further to photography education in China. He was invited to be the member of the British Royal Photography Society (ARPS, FRPS), as well as the American Photography Society (FPSA). In his new theory of photography, he combined the contemporary scientific photography technology and the “Six Canons” of traditional Chinese painting. He moved to Taiwan in 1949 and died at age of 104.
Li Hua 李樺 (1907-1994) Woodcut artist and Critic. Born in Guangdong. In 1926 he graduated from the Guangzhou Municipal College of Fine Arts. In 1930 he studied oil painting in Japan. He taught in Guangzhou Municipal College of Fine Arts and organized the Modern Printmaking Study Group to propagate anti-Japanese statements during the War of Resistance. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Modern Prints, and in 1946, the Editor-in-Chief of New Woodcuts, a special section of Times Daily in Shanghai. In 1936 he published Mr. Lu Xun and Woodcuts. Since 1947 he taught at the National College of the Arts in Beijing. After 1949 he held many leading positions in the art circles, including the Chairman of the Chinese Printmakers’ Association and the Vice President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Li Qun 力群 (1912- ) Woodcut artist. Born in Shanxi. In1931 he entered the Hangzhou National College of the Arts. In 1933 he was arrested for organizing the Wood Bell Woodcut Research Group with Cao Bai, and for joining the League of Left-Wing Artists. In 1935 he was released from prison and in 1936, organized the Shanghai Woodcut artists’ Association. In 1940 he taught in Lu Xun Academyof Arts and Literature in Yan’an. After 1949, he became the Secretary of the Chinese Artists’ Association and the Vice-Chairman of Chinese Printmakers’ Association.
Lin Fengmian 林風眠 (1900-1991) Painter. Born in Meixian, Guangdong. In 1919 he went to France and studied oil painting. In 1923 he studied in Berlin and met Elise Von Roda. They married next year in Paris but she died by puerperal fever. In 1926 he returned to China and was appointed as the President of the Beijing College of the Arts. In 1927 he resigned and participated in founding the National Academy of the Arts in Hangzhou where he held the position of President till 1938. He successfully combined traditional Chinese forms and Western techniques to achieve his own modern style, which influenced numerous pupils whom he taught at the Hangzhou Academy. In 1951 he moved to Shanghai. In 1968, he was arrested during the Cultural Revolution. He was released in 1972 but his paintings were labeled as “black painting”. In 1978 he settled in Hong Kong.
Lin Shizong 林世忠 (?) Woodcut and caricature artist. Born in Nanhai, Guangdong. Studied at the Guangzhou Minicipal College of Fine Art. He edited the “Woodcut and Caricature“ section for a newspaper in 1940’s. He moved to Hong Kong later.
Liu Dahong 劉大鴻 (1962-) Painter. Born in Shangdong. In 1978 he entered the Oil Painting department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation from the Academy in 1985, he took a teaching position at the Department of Fine Arts in Shanghai Normal University. In 1986 he completed The Metropolis, which was part of the inaugural exhibition at the new building of the Shanghai Art Museum. Then in 1989 he exhibited the major work, The Shanghai Bund at the Sixth All China Art Exhibition, which established his own style. This work was exhibited also at the Edinburgh Art Festival in Scotland in 1996. He has been actively showing his works in a various exhibitions in and outside of China including China’s New Art, Post 1989, Hong Kong (1993); Mercosul Biennale, Brazil (2002) and the First Guangzhou Triennial, China (2002).
Liu Haisu 劉海粟 (1896-1994) Painter. Born in Jiangsu. In 1904 he studied Western art under Zhou Xiang who set one of the earliest painting schools in Shanghai. In 1911 he founded the Shanghai College of Fine Art with Wu Shiguang and others. He held the position of Director until 1914. In 1917 he was severely criticized for using a male nude model for the first time in China. In 1920 and 1926 he was re-accused for employing female nude models. However, he organized the Heavenly Horse Society in 1919 and continued his devotion to research and to teaching Western art. In 1921 he was invited to lecture his paining theory in Beijing. In 1919 and 1927 he showed his works in solo exhibitions in Japan. From 1928 to 1931, he traveled throughout Europe as an official researcher sent by the government. From 1933 to 1935, he re-visited Europe with the Chinese Contemporary Painting Exhibition. After 1949 he held significant positions including the Vice-President of the Chinese Artists’ Association, Director of the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, and President of the Nanjing Academy of the Arts, and others, despite those difficult years when he was labeled as “rightist” from 1957 to 1962.
Liu Xian 劉峴 (1915-1990) Woodcut artist. Born in Henan. In 1931 he entered the Shanghai College of Fine Arts and in 1933 organized the Anonymous Woodcut Society with Huang Xinbo. From 1934 to 37, he studied at the Tokyo Imperial Academy of Art under Hiratsuka Un’ichi. After returning to China he joined the New Forth Army, and taught woodcut art at the Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature in Yan’an. He worked at the China National Art Museum in Beijing as research director After 1949.
Luo Qingzhen 羅清楨 (1904-1942) Born in Guangdong. In 1929 he graduated from the Xinhua College of the Arts in Shanghai, and returned to Guangdong to teach at various high schools. During the WWII he edited the woodcut bi-weekly publication Zhan Di Zheng Rong (The True face of the Battle Field). He was associated with the Woodcut Movement led by Lu Xun.
Luo Yongjin 羅永進 (1960-) Photographer. Born in Beijing. In 1982 he graduated from the English Department of Luoyang University. From 1985-1986 he studied at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and received MA from Guangzou Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. Currently he lives and in Shanghai and teaches at the Shanghai College of Design, China National Academy of Arts . His works exhibited in Face to Face with German artist Thomas Struth, Beijing (1997); Anguillara e Arte, Italy (1998); Love: Chinese contemporary Photographs and Video, Tokyo (1999); Lost Identities, Milan (2000); Chengdu Biennale, China; Hotpot, Oslo (2001); Moscow Photograph Festival, Russia (2002); Overseas Program, Bangkok (2003).
Ni Yide 倪貽德 (1901-1970) Painter, Writer and Theorist. Born in Hangzhou. In 1919 he entered the Shanghai College of Fine Arts where he learned Western art and painting theories. In 1927 he studied with Fujishima Takeji at the Tokyo Academy and also at the Kawabata Academy in Tokyo. Then in 1928 he returned to China. In 1931 he was a founding member of the Storm Society. He taught at the art schools in Guangzhou, Wuchang, and Shanghai. In 1938 he worked for propaganda team and received guidance from Guo Moruo (1892-1978) who was a celebrated intellectual. In 1949 he was appointed as the Vice President and head of the Research Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. In 1961 he established Ni Yide Studio in the Oil Painting Department of the Academy. He wrote a number of literally works on Chinese and Japanese Art History, as well as painting techniques and theories.
Pan Tianshou 潘天壽 (1897-1971) Calligrapher and Painter. Born in Zhejiang. He learned engraving by himself and studied painting under Wu Changshuo and Li Shutong. In 1923 he taught at the Shanghai College of Fine Arts, and then in 1926 he was the co-founder of the Xinhua College of the Arts. In 1928 he invited by Lin Fengmian to teach at the National Academy of the Arts in Hangzhou. He was the President of the Academy from 1944-1947 and 1959 -1967. He was also the leader of the Chinese Artists’ Association. In 1958 he received an Honored Fellowship from the Arts and Science Academy in the USSR. He was the leading advocator for Chinese painting and calligraphy education in 20th century.
Pan Xuezhao 潘學昭 （?）Woodcut artist.
Pan Yuliang 潘玉良 (1899? -1977) Painter. Born in Yangzhou. Jiangsu. Orphaned at age eight and sold to brothel at fourteen. In 1916 she became concubine of Pan Zanhua and moved to Shanghai. In 1918 she studied under Wang Jiyuan in the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. In 1921 she studied in Lyon, France, and in 1923 in the National Academy of Art in Paris. In 1925 she won scholarship to study in the Art Academy in Rome, Italy. In 1929 she returned to China and taught at the Shanghai Collage of Fine Arts and at the Central University in Nanjing. In 1937 she left for Paris again and stayed there until she died from sickness. She was a member of the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Independants. Her painting style reflected the influence of European Impressionism and Chinese folk art.
Pang Xunqin 龐薰琴 (1906-1985) Painter and desigher. Born in Changshu, Jiangsu. In 1921 he entered the Zhendan University in Shanghai and studied in the medical school, In 1924 soon after leaving the school he studied oil painting with a Russian artist. In 1925 he went to Paris to study art. In 1930 he returned to China and joined the Shanghai Taimeng Painting Group. In following year, along with Ni Yide, Zhang Xian, Yang Taiyang, and others, he organized the Strom Society, which was a serious modern art movement formed to express the spirit of a new era. In 1939 he worked for the Central Museum in Kunming and collected decorative folk art from southwestern minorities. In the 1940s he taught in the Provincial College of the Arts and other schools in Sichuan. After 1949, he taught at the East China Campus of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. He was one of the founders of the Central Academy of Arts and Design and held leading position for many years.
Qiu Ti 丘堤 (1906-1958) Painter. Born in Fujian. In 1928 she graduated from the Shanghai College of Fine Arts, and went to Tokyo to study art. In 1929 she returned to China and had advanced study at the Graduate School in Shanghai College of Fine Arts. In 1932 she joined to the Storm Society and participated in its group exhibitions. She married fellow artist, Pang Xunqin. During the WWII she stayed in Kunming and Chendu. In 1956 she became a researcher of the Central Academy of Arts and Design.
Shen Fu 沈浮 (1905-1994) Film director and Playwright. Born in Tianjin. In 1924 joined the Bohai Film Company in Tianjin. In 1933 moved to Shanghai and worked for Lianhua Film Company as the editor of Lianhua Pictorial and then the playwright and director. During 1930’s he was active in the League of Left-Wing Writers Film Group. In 1949 he screenwrote and directed A Life of Hope at the Kunlun Campany, which was a center for left-winged filmmakers. In this film, the intellectual heros in Shanghai were awaken during the civil war. After 1949 he was one of the leading figures in Shanghai’s film industry, held the posts as the President of the Haiyan Film Studio, Council member of China’s Filmmakers’ Association and the Head of the Artistic Committee of the Film Bureau, Shanghai Municipal Government. His film Crow and Sparrow, Lights in the City are great contribution to China’s filmaking.
Shi Yong 施勇 (1963-) Multi-media artist. Born in Shanghai, where he currently lives and works. In 1984 he graduated from the Fine Art Department of the Shanghai Light Industry Technical College. He has shown his works at variety of exhibitions, including: Two Attitudes Toward Identity - 1993 Qian Weikang & Shi Yong Installation Works, Shanghai (1993); Not Here Not There - Two Visiting Installation Artists from Shanghai, Access Artist Run Center, Vancouver, Canada (1995); Cities on the Move, Vienna, Austria (1997); Bordeaux, New York (1998) ; Jiangnan, Vancouver, Canada (1998);The Third Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane, Australia (1999); the Forth Shanghai Biennale, China (2002);; Unpacking Europe, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2001); Synthetic Reality, East Modern Art Centre, Beijing (2003).
Situ Qiao 司徒喬 (1902-1958) Painter. Born in Guangdung. He was a student at Yenching University in Beijing and studied painting by himself. In 1927, he moved to Shanghai, where he established Little Qiao Painting Studio. In 1928 he went to Paris to study art. In 1931, he returned to China and spent some time in Guangzhou, but in 1935, re-settled in Shanghai. He was Editor-in-Chief of the art section of Dagongbao. He had a close association with Lu Xun. After WWII he left for the United States, but returned to China in 1950 and taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.
Situ Zou 司徒奏 (?) Woodcut artist.
Sun Yu 孫瑜 (1900-1990) Film director. Born in Chongqing. In 1920, he entered Qinghua University, and later studied theater at the University of Wisconsin in the United States. He also studied film in the film schools in New York and at Columbia University. In 1926, he returned to China and joined to the Mingxing Studio, and in 1930 transferred to the Lianhua Film Company in Shanghai, where he directed a film, The Road in 1934. His work included: The Life of Wu Xun (1950) at the Kunlun Film Company; and Song Jingshi (1955) at the Shanghai Film Studio. He was the Vice President of the shanghai Filmmakers’ Asociation.
Tan Youliu 譚友六 Film director. He belonged to Nanguo Film Ltd., which produced film in Guangdong language in Hong Kong. In 1934 he wrote and directed Wine, Women, Avarice and Pride. His other works include: Fan and Light in Autumn (1935); and Money Tree (1937) at the Lianhua Film Company.
Teng Baiye 滕白也 (Teng Gui 滕圭1900-1980) Sculptor and painter. Born in Jiangsu. From 1923 he studied sculpture at the University of Washington in Seattle, United States where he befriended with Mark Tobey. After his graduation in 1927 he taught at the same school and also studied at Harvard University. In 1930 he visited Europe. In 1931 he returned to China and lived in Shanghai. He taught at several universities and established Baiye Sculpture and Painting Studio. Mark Tobey visited him in 1934. During the WWII he fled to Guilin, Chongqing and Chengdu and returned to Shanghai when the war ended. He suffered tremendously during the Cultural Revolution. He was a member of Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History before his death in 1980.
Tobey, Mark (1890 -1976) American artist. Born in Centerville, Wisconsin. From 1906 to 1908 he attended Saturday classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1911 Tobey moved to New York, where he worked as a fashion illustrator and had his first one-man show in 1917. In 1921 he moved to Seattle and taught at the Cornish School of Allied Arts where he met Teng Gui, and began to explore Chinese calligraphy. From 1931 to 1938 he was resident artist at Dartington Hall, a progressive school in England, Tobey spent some time in Kyoto and Shanghai in 1934 and began his “white writing” paintings in the following year. Tobey returned in 1938 to Seattle. He was given a solo exhibition in 1945 at the Portland Museum of Art, Oregon. In 1951 his first retrospective was held at the palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. In 1956 he was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and he received a Guggenheim International Award. In 1957 he began his Sumi ink paintings. The artist settled in Basel in 1960 and died there in 1976.
Wang Tiande 王天德 (1960-) Multi-media artist. Born in Shanghai. He graduated from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1988. Currently he is the head of the Art Education Center of Fudan University and a member of Chinese Artists’ Association. He employs the traditional Chinese painting concept in his contemporary art works. His exhibitions include: the Eighth National Art Exhibition, China (1994); The Second Shanghai Biennale, China (1998); Inside Out, New York (1998), San Francisco, Seattle, Hong Kong (1999); The Third International Ink Painting Biennale, China (2002). He held solo shows in Shanghai, New York and Hong Kong.
Wo Zha 沃渣 (1905-1974) Woodcut artist. Born in Zhejiang. In 1924 he entered the Central University in Nanjing to study traditional Chinese painting. In 1925 he transferred to the Xinhua College of the Arts in Shanghai. In 1928 he was arrested for his political involvements and was released in 1935,. He was associated with the Wild Wind Painting Group, and the Iron Horse Printmakers Group. In 1937 he went to Yan’an and taught at the Luxun Academy of Arts and Literature. After 1949, he worked as an editor at the People’s Art Publishing House, and the manager of Rong Bao Zai in Beijing.
Wu Yonggang 吳永剛 (1907-1982) Film director and Playwright. Born in Shanghai. He started as a design apprentice in film industry in 1925. In 1928 while he was promoted to be an art designer he also studied at Shanghai College of Fine Art as a part-time student. In1931 he joined the Lianhua Film Company in Shanghai. He wrote and directed his first film Godess in 1934 which became a classic in Chinese film history. He has directed 27 movies in his life time including: Remote Village (1949) , Night Rain Falling Down on Sichuan Mountain (1980) .
Xu Beihong 徐悲鴻 (1895-1953) Painter. Born in Yixing, Jiangsu. At a young age, he learned painting from his father. In 1914, he went to Shanghai and studied at the painting school set up by Zhou Xiang. In 1917, after a trip to Japan for six months, he was appointed tutor to the Painting Methods Research Society at Beijing University. In 1919, he went to Paris and studied at the Ecole National Supreme des Beaux Arts. From 1921 to 23, he stayed in Berlin, and in 1925 visited Singapore before returning to Shanghai. In 1926, he revisited Europe, and in 1927 he returned to China. He taught at both Nanguo Academy of the Arts in Shanghai and the National Central University in Nanjing and commuted between two cities. In 1933 he organized the Modern Chinese Painting Exhibition in Europe. In1936, he was involved with the Silence Society in Shanghai. During the War of Resistance, he stayed in Guilin, Chongqing, Guangdong, and Changsha. In 1939-1940 he was invited to lecture in India. In 1942 he organized the China Academy of Fine Arts in Choungqing. In 1946, he became the Director of the National College of the Arts in Beijing, where under his guidance the French academic style was revered as a scientific way of seeing and a positive way of intervening in social issues. After 1949 he was the President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts as well as the President of Chinese Artists’ Association.
Yan Wenliang 顏文樑 (1893- 1988) Painter. Born in Suzhou. From 1909 he learned Western painting at the Commercial Press, Ltd. with a Japanese artist. In 1922 he founded the Suzhou College of Fine Arts. In 1928 he went to study oil painting in Paris. He managed to bring back from Europe to China, through untold hardships, 500 pieces of plaster replicas made from famous European sculptures, and a large number of teaching materials on art education, all of which exerted a profound influence on the later teaching of art in Chinese schools. After his return to China in 1931, he continued in his post as the President of Suzhou College of Fine Arts. After 1949, he held such posts as: Vice-President of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Councilor of the Chinese Artists’ Association, Vice-Chairman of the Shanghai Artists’ Association.
Yang Fudong 楊福東 (1971-) Video Artist and Photographer. Born in Beijing. In 1995, he graduated from Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Shanghai. His works include: Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo, video (2003 -); Liu Lan, video (2003); Shenjia Alley. Fairies, photography (2000) and An Estranged Paradise, Film (1997);. His works were selected in Post-Sense and Sensibility, Beijing (1999); The Yokohama Triennial, Japan; The Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (2001); Documenta XI, Kassell, Germany;The First Guangzhou Triennial, China; The 4th Shanghai Biennale, China (2002); The 50th Venice Biennale, Italy; Yang Fudong, MediaScope MoMA, New York (2003).
Yang Taiyang 陽太陽 (1909 -) Painter. Born in Guilin. In 1931 he graduated from the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. From 1932 to 35, he organized the Storm Society with Pang Xunqin, Ni Yide, Zhang Xian, and others. In 1935 he went to Japan and won recognitions at Dokuritsu Ten Exhibition (1936) and Nika Ten Exhibition (1936). In 1937 he was offered a trip to Paris, however, he decided to return to China, in order to devote himself for Chinese education in painting and poetry. From 1940 he taught at the Guilin School of Fine Arts and went to Hong Kong in 1942. After 1949 he was the head of Guangxi College of the arts, Guangdong Academy of Fine arts and the Guangxi Academy of the Arts. He continues to be active in various artistic events in China and abroad.
Yang Zhenzhong 楊振中 (1968 -) Video Artist and photographer. Born in Hangzhou. In 1990, he graduated from the Fashion Design Department of the Zhejiang Institute of Silk Technology, and in 1993, studied in the Oil Painting Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Shanghai. He uses visual language to critique on Chinese social conditions. His works include: Sleep Walking is a Therapy; Video (1997); Shanghai face, Video Installation (1999), in which he filmed the Shanghai crowd from the bridge over the intersection of Nanjing and Xizang Road. His solo exhibitions include: Light As Fuck, in Bizart, Shanghai (2002); I will Die, Brussels, Belgium, and Jiang Nan/ Yang Zhenzhong in Access Gallery, Vancouver (1998). He was also in the First Guangzhou Triennial, China; the 4th Shanghai Biennale, China (2002); and the 50th Venice Biennale, Italy (2003).
Zhang Hui 張慧 (1909-1990) Woodcut artist. Born in Guangdong. In1930 he graduated from the Shanghai Art University and returned to his hometown. In 1940, he published Woodcuts Front with Lo Qingzhen. Due to political pressure, he was forced to give up his artistic career and turned to work in the field of finance.
Zhang Wang 張望 (1916 -199?) Woodcut artist. Born in Guangdong. In 1931 he entered the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. He participated in organizing the MK Woodcut Research Group and became its administrator. In 1933 he joined the League of Left-Wing Artists, and in 1935 returned to Guangdong. During the WWII, he was involved in propaganda works and teaching. In 1942 he taught at Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature in Yan’an. After 1949 he taught at Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang and was the President of the school.
Zheng Yefu 鄭野夫 (1909-1973) Woodcut artist. Born in Zhejiang. In1931 he graduated from the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. In 1935 he organized the Iron Horse Printmaking Group with Jiang Feng. During WWII, he joined the woodcut movement for anti-Japanese propaganda. After 1949, he worked in Shanghai and Hangzhou, and then became the Editor of Art and Graphic Art. After 1957, he joined the staff at the China National Art Museum.
Zheng Zhengqiu 鄭正秋 (1888-1935) Film director and playwright. Born in Guangdong and raised in Shanghai. At the end of Qing Dynasty, he was dissatisfied with the corrupt government and wrote criticism in revolutionary newspapers against Beijing opera theaters. During the mid-1920s, he directed a series of films dealing with the “women’s issues”. In 1933 he wrote and directed Sister Flowers, a production of Mingxing Film Company.
Zhou Tiehai 周鐵海 (1966-) Multi-media artist, Born in Shanghai. In 1989 he graduated from the Fine Art Department of Shanghai University. Currently he lives and works in Shanghai. He had solo exhibitions in Beijing (1996); Rotterdam; Bern (1998); Shanghai (1999); Tokyo, Lisbon (2000); New York (2001). His works were selected in Another Long March, the Netherlands; Cities on the Move, Vienna (1997); Medialization, Finland (1998); the 48th Venice Biennale, Italy; international Photography Biennale, Mexico City (1999); the First Guangzhou Triennial, China (2002); the Forth Gwangju Biennial, Korea (2003).
Zhu Shilin 朱石麟 (1899-1967) Film director and Playwright. Born in Jiangsu. He started as an editor in film industry in 1923 and founded magazine Hollywood with Fei Mu. In 1932 he joined the Lianhua Film Company in Shanghai. In 1946 he moved to Hong Kong. His filmographies included: Love and Duty (1931) Screenplay; Men and Women (1964); Sons of the Earth (1952); Sorrows of the Forbidden (1948) .
Edited by Shengtian Zheng and Kazuko Kameda-Madar
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