Biography of Feng Yuan

Feng Yuan, with postgraduate education, is a famous Chinese painter and art educator.

Currently: Deputy Director of the Central Research Center for Literature and History, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Member of the Party Group, Secretary of the Secretariat, Vice Chairman of the China Artists Association, Vice Chairman of the Art Committee of Chinese Painting, and Supervisor of the Doctoral Degree Program of the China Academy of Art. Member of the Tenth National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Honorary President of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts.

In December 2018, he was elected as the ninth advisor of the China Art Association.

On June 4, 2020, Feng Yuan was ranked 80th in the 2020 Hurun Chinese Art List with a total turnover of RMB 3.67 million for his works in the 2019 public auction market.

Chinese name: Feng Yuan

Nationality: Chinese

Ethnicity: Han

Birthplace: Shanghai

Date of birth: 1952

Occupation: Painter, professor

Graduated from: Postgraduate course in Chinese painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts

Major accomplishments: Deputy director of the Central Research Center for Literature and History

Vice Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association

Art Educator

Representative Works: "Qin Li Building a City", "Starry Flame", "Qu Fu Rhetoric"

Personal Profiles

Feng Yuan is a Chinese painter and professor. He is currently the vice chairman, member of the party group and secretary of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice chairman of the China Artists Association, deputy director of the Chinese Painting Art Committee, doctoral supervisor of the China Academy of Art, columnist and expert of the China Network of the State Council Information Office. He has served as vice president and professor of China Academy of Art, director of the Department of Art and the Department of Science and Technology Education of the Ministry of Culture, director of the National Art Museum of China, and honorary dean of the Academy of Art at Tsinghua University since August 2008, and in May 2011, he was appointed as the art advisor of Beijing Oriental Xianghe Painting and Calligraphy Institute, and the special painter of Beijing Tangfeng Art Museum.

The State Council decided on August 29, 2012 to appoint Feng Yuan as Deputy Director of the Central Research Museum of Culture and History.

Member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Paintings have been selected for the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth National Art Exhibitions, and many of them have been purchased by art museums and collectors at home and abroad.

On December 3, 2016, he was elected as a member and vice-chairman of the 10th National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

On the morning of June 9, 2020, Feng Yuan was appointed honorary dean of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts at Shanghai University.

Character Experience

Born in Shanghai in January 1952, he is originally from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. He specializes in figure painting. When he was in middle school, he loved painting and studied comic strip painting for eight years. 14 years old, he entered high school and studied under famous masters such as Fan Ziyu, Xu Qifu, Gu Changzu, Gu Eryi, Yan Ruoyu, Feng Deguo, Zhang Shenyu, Zitong, Huang Yusong, Gu Yunyu, Ji Xiufu, Li Xincheng, etc. He was also a member of the Shanghai Art Academy.

In May 1969, he graduated from junior high school and went to Heilongjiang Production and Construction Corps to work as a farmer;

In 1977, he was transferred to Liaoning Literary and Artistic Creation Office, and at the end of the following year, he was admitted to the Postgraduate Course of Chinese Painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under the tutelage of Fang Zengxian.

September 1980, graduated from the zhejiang academy of fine arts postgraduate course of chinese painting, stayed in school teaching, to 1990 has served as director of the department of chinese painting teaching and research room, the academy of the deputy director of the teaching department, the director, is a famous chinese painters, art educator, director of the chinese artists association, the association of chinese artists arts committee member;

1992, served as the sixth, the seventh session of the youth union of zhejiang province;

The sixth and seventh session of the youth union of zhejiang province, member of the political consultative conference;

1977, transferred to Liaoning literary and artistic creation office. In 1992, he became a member of the Sixth and Seventh Youth Federation of China, and a member of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference;

In 1994, he became a professor of the Department of Chinese Painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts;

From 1987 to 1999, he served as head of the Academic Affairs Office and vice president of the China Academy of Fine Arts, engaging in the artistic creation of Chinese painting, art teaching, and theoretical research, and presiding over the Academy's teaching, creative work and scientific research management. He was awarded the honorary titles of Outstanding Teacher and National Young and Middle-aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions, and enjoys special government allowance.

In May 1999, he was honored as a young and middle-aged expert with outstanding contributions to the country, and was transferred to the Department of Education and Science and Technology of the Ministry of Culture as the director;

In September 2000, he was appointed as the director of the Department of Art of the Ministry of Culture and a member of the Federation of Literary and Artistic Cultures of China;

In November 2003, he was elected as the vice-chairman of the China Artists Association;

In May 2004, he was appointed as the director of the National Art Museum of China;

In September 2005, he became a member of the party group, vice-chairman and secretary of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles;

In 2008, he became a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC);

Since August 2008, painter Feng Yuan has been the honorary dean of the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Tsinghua University.

In May 2011, painter Feng Yuan was appointed as the art advisor of Beijing Oriental Xianghe Painting and Calligraphy Institute.

On November 24, 2011, Feng Yuan was appointed Vice Chairman, Member of the Party Group and Secretary of the Ninth National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC).

In November 2012, he participated in the recording of "cctv hanmo yin yuan", which was broadcast on the music channel of China Central Television (CCTV).

Major Works

In 1974, his work Under the Apple Tree was selected for the Fifth National Exhibition of Fine Arts, and was awarded the Excellence Prize;

In 1981, his thesis on "The Problems of Programatization and Conceptualization of the Stylization of Traditional Chinese Figure Paintings" was published in Duo Yun magazine;

In 1982, his thesis on "The Difficulty of Facing the Difficulties in Painting Chinese Figures" was published in Duo Yun magazine. 1982 thesis "facing the dilemma of contemporary Chinese figure painting" published in the "fine arts" magazine;

1983 thesis "the modern value of traditional literati painting and its significance" published in the "fine arts" magazine;

1984 the work of the "hundred years of family and national shame" won the "zhejiang province to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the country, the exhibition of works of art

In 1985, "Shen Xiaoxia's Meeting with the Master's Table" was awarded the First National Top Ten Award for Serial Paintings;

In 1986, "Blue and Black-Feng Yuan's Works" was exhibited at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts;

1987 "Feng Yuan's Chinese Painting Exhibition" in Shanghai;

1991 "Back to Simplicity" published in Fine Arts Magazine;

1993 "Lin Fengmian and His Ink Painting Art" published in New Fine Arts Magazine;

1995 Feng Yuan's Ink Painting Exhibition in Taipei;

1997 "Celebration of Qin Yingzheng's Reign as Emperor" was selected for the "Chinese Art Exhibition" and won the Grand Prize;

1998 "Feng Yuan's Works" was exhibited in Paris, France;

1998 "Feng Yuan's Works" was exhibited in Paris, France;

The exhibition of Feng Yuan's works was held in Paris, France. In 1998, "Feng Yuan's Works" was exhibited at the International Art City in Paris, France, and a large number of his works were exhibited in the United States, France, Germany, Singapore, and Japan with the joint exhibition;

In 2001, his work "Cangsheng" series of group paintings was selected for the "Century Bone of the Fifty Famous Artists of Chinese Paintings Exhibition";

In 2002, his work "Virtual City Disease" was selected for the "Third Shenzhen International Ink Painting Biennial";

In 2006, he organized the activity of "Art Production Project of National Centennial Major Historical Subjects", and the draft of his creation "Wuchang Uprising" was selected for the project;

In 2007, the series of works "Faraway Mountains";

In 2009, the creation of "We" was selected for the "11th National Exhibition of Fine Arts";

In 2010, the creation of "The Picture of All the Sons", and led the team to go to Jenggang Mountain to do some sketching;

2011 Created "Sister Looking at Her Husband", "Mother and Child", "Sketching Xinjiang Style", and "This Life and the Next", which were selected for the Party Founding Commemorative Exhibition and the Xinjiang Theme Art Works Exhibition;

March, 2012, published by the People's Fine Arts Publishing House, large-scale collection of paintings "21st Century Chinese Artists-Feng Yuan", and "Dusty Ink and Writings", which is a collection of paintings by Feng Yuan;

Major Achievements

Feng Yuan Feng Yuan has served as vice president and professor of the China Academy of Art, director of the Department of Art and the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Ministry of Culture, director of the National Art Museum of China, and member and vice president of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and since August 2008, honorary president of the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University. Feng Yuan's paintings have been selected for the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth National Art Exhibitions.

In the history of his paintings, Feng Yuan's brush and ink language has extracted the beauty of form, the relationship between black and white composition and variability from the traditional sparseness and ease of brushstrokes, and borrowed the aesthetic elements of Western art such as modeling, volume, and structure, demonstrating his highly personalized artistic interests and aesthetic pursuits, and his frank, deep, and majestic artistic taste and characteristics are well recognized in contemporary art. This kind of open, deep, and majestic artistic taste and artistic characteristics are especially prominent in the contemporary painting world.

Introduction of Works

Chinese paintings

Qin Li Building a City, Starry Fire, Qu Fugue Rhetoric, and Century of the Wise were selected in the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth National Fine Arts Exhibitions, and were awarded with more than ten times of various prizes, such as Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Award of Excellence. His works have been collected by the National Art Museum of China, the China Academy of Art, and the Museum of East Asian Art in the United States.

Publications

From Life Consciousness to Aesthetic Perception, Art Education and Talent Cultivation in the 21st Century, Back to Simplicity, Revelations of Modern Japanese Painting, Ink Figure Painting Tutorial, East Window Paintings, and Feng Yuan Paintings. He was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to write "Higher Art Teaching Program" and "Indicator System for Evaluating Educational Art Teaching", etc. A number of papers were awarded with scientific research awards.

Other books include Approaching the Painter, Ink Figure Painting Tutorial, Classics of Chinese Painting Masters, and Collection of Beijing Contemporary Excellent Works.

Painting Style

What is remarkable in Feng Yuan's own ink and wash creations is the strengthening of rational factors, especially the reinforcement of philosophical, historical, and life factors, which makes the meteorological and poetic feelings, structure and language of his works more inclined to coldness, and as a result, the realm of the art is dense with philosophical revelation and rationality, which has become the aesthetic orientation of his works. The typology and conceptualization of ink and brushwork have always been the drawbacks of Chinese ink painting, which has remained unchanged for thousands of years, and which is fundamentally contrary to the aesthetic characteristics of painting. The significance of Feng Yuan's ink art is precisely based on overcoming this tendency.

Feng Yuan's Chinese paintings were created in a realist figurative and realistic style, as well as other styles. The figures in his works are carefully modeled, and his painting style pursues simplicity and richness, and his brush and ink are pale and vigorous. He prefers to create historical themes and is good at organizing grand scenes. Focusing on the ideological connotation of the works, he strives to convey a portrayal of the grand spirit, and at the same time, he is also concerned about the novelty and delicacy of the artistic form and language. He also paints simple and abstract paintings with the intention of being eclectic. In addition to his work, he is a diligent writer, and is keen to participate in creative and theoretical research. Feng Yuan is practical and conscientious in his art and teaching, and strives to reach the appropriate level of maturity in every stylistic transmutation in his creative research. Feng Yuan believes that the future of Chinese ink figure painting is unlimited, but it still requires hard labor to create a truly modern Chinese figure painting that distances itself from both traditional art and modern Western art.

Artistic Opinion

Feng Yuan believes that China can be said to have a contemporary art that is developing and forming, but not yet a truly formed, mature and successful contemporary art of its own. The concept of "in the process of development" here refers to the concept of being in the primary stage of development, that is, the art practice of imitating, borrowing, studying, and drawing on (including copying) Western artistic concepts, languages, forms, and materials from the late 1980s and 1990s, as well as the art practice of blending Western modern art concepts with Chinese cultural elements and Chinese cultural symbols. The development and change of the art practice in terms of learning and adopting Western contemporary art concepts, language, forms and materials. In terms of learning and adopting certain valuable things in Western contemporary art, and realizing that it will eventually embody the concepts, connotations, and carriers of contemporary Chinese culture, and then innovate and develop Chinese contemporary art, there is no lack of positive significance. It is also one of the feasible choices. Since we are in the process of learning and development, the lack of independent thinking and creativity is inevitable at a certain stage, and no matter whether the young avant-garde artists are intentional or unintentional, they are inevitably suspected of being "subordinate" to others. However, Feng Yuan does not believe that a contemporary artist with ideals and aspirations would be willing to become an "appendage", or even an "appendage" for the rest of his life. Since the reform and opening up thirty years ago, there have been a number of excellent artists in China who are brave to innovate and change, and have achieved remarkable results, promoting the generation and progress of Chinese contemporary art, and some of them have even gained the recognition and praise of their western counterparts in the international arena. Of course, at this stage, the rules of the game and the discourse of value standards are in the hands of other people, and even the concept of "avant-garde" is specifically referred to in the concepts of curators from the East and the West, so Chinese contemporary art is "thinking" and "creative" with respect to other people's rules and standards. "Creativity". Feng Yuan pointed out that one day, Chinese contemporary art will be judged by the same standards as those of its Chinese and international counterparts, and only then will China be able to realize its own contemporary art.

On Painting

Feng Yuan believes that Chinese painting is an important art form of Chinese culture, and it is an art style with strong national characteristics. Chinese painting has a long history, and as Chinese civilization has never been interrupted, the art of Chinese painting will surely have a long history as well. What is different from the painting art of other countries is that the cultural and philosophical concept of Chinese painting is the harmony between human and nature, the concept of "unity of heaven and mankind", which is completely in line with the concept of "building a harmonious society and a harmonious world" put forward by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. This is a perfect match with the concept of "building a harmonious society and a harmonious world" put forward by the Party Central Committee and State Council.

Chinese painting art observes the world in a different way, Chinese painting adheres to the cultural and philosophical concept of "harmony between man and nature", looks down on heaven and earth, tastes and observes all kinds of things, expresses emotions and free will, and uses Chinese brush and ink materials to resort to the wonderful modeling of objects between likeness and non-likeness, and pursues the work's vivid and vivid atmosphere and mood, and achieves a sense of satisfaction during the process of communicating and interacting with the viewers. In the process of interaction with the audience, the artist achieves the aesthetic effect of being pleased (his meaning is presented), and the audience is pleased (the artist's intention is given to the audience, and the audience is able to accept it), and achieves such an interactive effect.

Another way is to use different artistic concepts, different color languages, and different visual patterns to present the same world, the same theme, and the same dream. By connecting the different graphics of each of the 192 countries, it becomes a more spectacular scroll of the United Nations, and its theme is easy to be accepted by the audience of each country. Since Chinese painting is between right and wrong, different from both the very fine, photographic reproduction of Western classical painting and the contemporary Western abstract forms, its unique form is easy to be understood by viewers and peers.

The unique language of Chinese painting, although not the same as that of Western painting in terms of color tone, begins with reality, starts from realism, and ends with emptiness, that is, there is a boundary that is not entirely abstract; it is exactly the same as, or different from, the concepts of neo-realism, figurative expressionism, impressionism, and even symbolism in the middle of Western contemporary painting. It focuses on pictoriality, writing, and the meaning of the work, and the symbolism of picaresque. Therefore, I think Chinese painting and Western painting should belong to two kinds of high-end art of different cultural systems. I believe that Chinese and foreign audiences should be able to distinguish between good and bad art.

Educational Perspectives

Feng Yuan believes that the academy is the center of teaching, research and cultivation of talents, and that the academy should uphold the spirit of academics, the spirit of conscience, and the spirit of helping the world, and play an important role in the era of passing down experience, researching new knowledge, creating achievements, advocating values, and leading the society. College can be conservative, it insists on promoting the traditional cultural core values; can with the times **** forward, timely adjustment of personnel training objectives and professional quality of human resources products; college can also be avant-garde, it is the study of the phenomenon, put forward the true knowledge of the vision, the formation of ideas, and to promote society. But there is a point, the college should not passively follow society to become the tail of the current. The significance of the art academy is the same.

Feng Yuan also believes that the significance of teaching lies in the transfer of unlimited knowledge and skills to students in a limited time through the combination of a rationally organized content structure that has been proven to be effective, and in the development of the students' hands-on ability to solve problems initially. Skills are specialized, knowledge is systematic, teaching is regular, and materials are standardized, orderly and progressive. What college teaching teaches students is the basic method. College learning does not lie in which specific craft the student has mastered, but in what kind of quality and talent he or she has become. An artist, from graduation to become an accomplished artist, there is still a long way to go, study, practice, research, creation is the need to devote their lives to the matter, but in fact, those who really become a great artist, is not all based on the study of the hands of the effort. In Chinese history, self-study has produced great artists, masters and apprentices have produced great artists, colleges have produced great artists, and those who have switched to other professions have also produced great artists. In modern Western history, since Impressionism, many great painters have not come from the academy, so what is the significance of the academy? Can art still be taught? The academy needs to be organized, that is, the society has the corresponding needs, and the academics can still be taught, what can be taught? Teach the basic rules. Any special talents are created by special experiences and methods that are different from those of ordinary people. Art advocates uniqueness, which is any one engaged in art creators *** with the same goal, no one will be happy with the same uniform.

Works auction

Collection value

Feng Yuan works of high artistic value, has always been optimistic about the market, from the point of view of Feng Yuan's auction record, not only to participate in the auction of the works of a substantial increase in the number of works, and the volume of transactions is very high, the auction price is rising. Industry analysts analyze, and Feng Yuan's artistic value and comprehensive ability compared to his works market price is low, has a very large appreciation space, Feng Yuan is the new China following Xu Beihong, Li Keran, Lu Yanshao and other masters of the second generation of Chinese painters, one of the representatives. Xu Beihong and other masters of fine works have been shot hundreds of thousands, millions or even tens of millions of dollars, compared with them, in the near future, Feng Yuan's works will have a huge appreciation. In addition, it is worth noting that Feng Yuan never participates in commercial speculation, therefore, the auction prices of his works are spontaneous market behavior with high gold content. From the number of his works at auction, the proportion of transactions, as well as the rising auction prices, collectors have realized the huge appreciation potential of Feng Yuan's works, the collection of investment in the eyes of Feng Yuan's fine works. Therefore, the industry suggests that collectors and art investors should seize the favorable opportunity of the low price of Feng Yuan's works in time to collect Feng Yuan's fine works.

2001 fall auction average price of 3236 yuan / square foot, 2002 fall auction average price of 4337 yuan / square foot, 2004 spring auction average price of 10,314 yuan / square foot. Auction prices fluctuated, with a general upward trend and a high turnover rate of almost 100%.

Sold Cases

Sold Year Name of Work Size Specification Sold Price (RMB: Yuan)

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2001 Fishing Picture 52,800

Picture of Playing Game 66×66cm47,040

2002 Drunkenness of the Eight Immortals 137.5×70cm40,000

2003 Tang Man Playing Bowfighting 137×70cm49,500

Fishing on the Clear River 66×67cm55,000

2004 Figures 137×69cm50,820

Lady 67×67cm74,800

Four Seasons 67×67cm68,200

Exhibitions

2009 Exhibition for Students

On December 3, 2009, an exhibition titled "Ink and Wash Forms" was held at the National Art Museum of China. On December 3, 2009, an exhibition of contemporary Chinese ink figure paintings was held at the National Art Museum of China, titled "Ink and Shape". One person's name appeared in the full title of the exhibition: Feng Yuan. As the vice-chairman of the Federation of Literature and Art Circles, the exhibition was a graduation show for eight of his students. These students are, themselves, professors in the art departments of various universities.

The eight students are known as the "Eight Greats". At the head of the group is studio assistant Li Yaqing, who is also a professor at Hubei Normal University's School of Fine Arts and is usually called the "class president". His works take urban migrant workers as their subject matter, drawing from modernist novels, murals and modernist artworks, and forming a multidirectional narrative structure by interspersing, collaging and superimposing various images and movements of migrant workers.

Li's "classmate" is a professor at Hainan University's School of Art. He likes to paint folklore subjects, "Eight Hammers of Peking Opera," "Farewell My Concubine," and "Dongpo Leisurely Picture" take folklore and opera as their main subjects, and use lines to shape them to create a world full of traditional fun.

Wang Ke, a professor at the School of Fine Arts at Capital Normal University, favors subjects of ordinary people, focusing on the mundanity and joy of ordinary people.

Zou Liying, an art creator at the Literary and Art Creation Office of the Navy's Political Department, is a national-level artist who likes to draw hans, focusing on portraying a group portrait of modern soldiers.

Tan Nailin was the director of the creative department of the Qingdao Painting Institute and vice chairman of the Qingdao Art Association before he became a student. He had a knack for being able to control the situation with a large number of characters in his paintings, and was able to do so with ease. The vivid and rich portraits of people in the real society, and the various kinds of people in the atmosphere of life do not narrow down the daily life scenes and the state of the characters in a special context.

Fan Zhibin, who is a lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts at the School of Arts and Media at Beijing Normal University, is focusing on the concept of figurative expressionism in his work.

Yang Xiaogang is the youngest painter in the studio. In the work "Ancient Wind of a Thousand Years," he incorporates traditional water techniques into his creation, making the water translucent and smooth and rich in beauty through extremely controlled maneuvers.

In contrast to Yang Xiaogang's lightness and lyricism, Li Lianzhi's characters are bitter and heavy. The quiet skies, flowing white clouds, standing mountains, solid land, and people standing between heaven and earth in the series of Paradise all convey to the viewer a sense of resilience and tenaciousness of life.

However, the styles of the eight students brought up by a gentleman are different and even not similar. We don't see even a similar style. "This is the most successful and moving aspect of Feng Yuan's teaching. He is always careful to guard his students' individuality and imagination, lest they become copies of their teacher." Critic Zhang Xiaoling said admiringly. "I hope that in the current state of Chinese figure painting, which is relatively weak, this group will become a force that drives forward."

2013 Solo Exhibition

On April 11, 2013, Feng Yuan, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a renowned painter, held the "Brush and Ink Dust and Margins - Feng Yuan's Chinese Painting Works Exhibition" at the Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou. Nearly 200 pieces of works on display were divided into four parts, namely, "Historical Retrospection", "Haunting Techniques", "Sentiments of Cangsheng", and "Tradition Pursuit". "The four parts of the exhibition comprehensively show Feng Yuan's exploration in the inheritance and development of Chinese painting art and artistic skills for more than 30 years since the 1980s, which he called "a stage-by-stage summary of his creative research".