In the modern Lingnan School, if you want to talk about figure painting, Fang Rending is undoubtedly an outstanding representative. His Chinese paintings are eclectic, blending East and West, full of modernity and human touch, and have a great influence on the Chinese painting world in the 20th century.
Fang Rending (1901–1975)
Mr. Lin Yong once commented: "Speaking of Lingnan, Fang Ren must be a peak!" Look at the hundred years, the square people must be a great instrument! The author fully agrees with this.
The "Fang Huang Controversy" has a far-reaching impact
Fang Rending (1901-1975) was a famous modern Chinese painter, calligrapher, art theorist and poet, one of the leading figures of the modern Lingnan School, and one of the outstanding representatives of Chinese painting in the twentieth century. Originally known as Shi Qin, later changed to a celebrity, a native of Shaxi, Zhongshan, Guangdong. From 1921 to 1926, he studied and graduated from the Guangzhou Law and Politics School and the Higher Studies Department of the Guangdong Judges School, and later specialized in fine arts, and was merged into gao Jianfu's door.
Fang Ren set the vertical axis of "Tragic Autumn"
Fang Rending's greatest influence in the Republic of China period was the "Fang Huang Controversy", that is, the controversy between Fang Rending of the Lingnan School and Huang Banruo of the Guangdong Chinese Painting Research Society on the old and new art in the 1920s, which was named "Fang Huang Controversy" after their surnames, although this famous public case occurred in the Guangdong painting world, but the impact was huge and far-reaching. The cause of the "Fang-Huang Controversy" was that in response to the frequent launch of "New Chinese Paintings" in different exhibitions by the "Two Highs and One Chen" (referring to Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng, and Chen Shuren), the young and vigorous Huang Banruo (1901-1968) wrote the article "The Difference Between Plagiarism and Creation", which positively raised the problems of "plagiarism" and "plagiarism" in the works of "Two High and One Chen".
Fang Rending, 1961 "Habitat Map" Mirror Heart (National Art Museum of China Collection)
In 1926, Gao Jianfu instructed Fang Rending, the "propaganda minister" of the "eclectic school", to write "New Chinese Painting and Old Chinese Painting" and publish it in the newspaper, the main content of which was to accuse the traditional painters of the Chinese Painting Research Association of clinging to the shortcomings and conforming to the old ways, believing that the road of Chinese painting reform was the "compromise" road pioneered by Gao Jianfu and others. Huang Banruo, who advocated the survival of the national essence, immediately wrote "Is the New School Painting China's Crown?" with the support of Pan Dawei and Zhao Haogong? The article hit back, pointing out again that these "new school paintings" were actually plagiarism and plagiarism of Japanese paintings, denying that their works were "the crown of the Republic of China". Fang and Huang came and went for a while, each holding his own opinion, clear barriers, tit-for-tat, and it was difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat. The focus of the controversy also expanded from borrowing and plagiarism to the understanding of traditional literati painting, the sketching of painting, Chinese and Western painting and Japanese painting, and later mediated between the art master Ye Gongqi to temporarily end the dispute.
Figure 4. Fang Rending made the vertical axis of "Morning" in 1955
It is reported that in the following 1929 and 1935, Fang Rending went to Japan twice to study Western human body techniques, and walked out of a character painting path that was completely different from his teacher Gao Jianfu; at the same time, when studying in Japan, Fang found that Gao Jianfu had indeed copied. Also because of the plagiarism, until the death of Gao Jianfu in 1951, Fang Rending maintained a delicate teacher-student relationship with Gao Jianfu, which cannot but be said to be a dark footnote of Gao Jianfu's life.
Figure 5. Fang Rending made the vertical axis of the "Return to the Hunting Map" in 1932
Interestingly, it was not until 1938, during the Hong Kong Anti-Japanese War Painting Exhibition, that Fang Rending and Huang Banruo met unexpectedly, "meeting each other and laughing and hating each other". The two felt sorry for each other, shook hands and became good friends. After that, they each created their own artistic path, and together they opened a new page in history. It should be said that the controversy between the two schools has not only triggered the thinking and discussion of the modern transformation of traditional Chinese painting in the Guangdong painting circles, but also blown a fresh wind for the Guangdong painting world, greatly enlivened the art forum of the Republic of China, promoted the reform and development of Chinese painting, and even to this day, has a profound impact on Chinese art.
A combination of East and West, unique
Fang Rending entered the Spring Sleep Painting Academy in 1923 and studied painting under gao Jianfu, the leader of the Lingnan School, during which his painting skills improved greatly. Since then, his works have been selected for the West Lake Exposition, the Sino-Japanese Modern Art Exhibition, and the Sino-French, Sino-Soviet, Sino-British, Sino-German, Sino-Czech and other art exhibitions, which have won many awards and have been collected by relevant parties. Among them, in 1928 and 1929, his flower and bird paintings and "The Sound of Desolation" were selected for the Belgian Universal Exposition, won two gold medals, and their works were collected.
Fang Rending, 1959, "The Strongest Man" (From the Guangdong Museum of Art)
In 1929, in order to seek the innovation of Chinese painting, Fang Ren ding crossed the Toei twice, and successively studied at the Japanese Art School, the Kawabata Painting School, and the Suruga Taiyang Painting School, learning Western body sketching, and became a painter who studied for the longest time and wrote the most works among the members of the "Lingnan School". After returning to China, he has held "solo exhibitions" in Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Macao and other places, and is known as the "Painter of the Times".
In 1938, regardless of his personal safety, he held the "Fang Ren Ding Anti-Japanese War Painting Exhibition" in Hong Kong. Subsequently, he took his works to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York to hold art exhibitions, and held a group exhibition with Zhang Shanxiao, who was in New York, USA, and his works were successively selected for the "Golden Gate Exposition" and the "New York Exposition", and the local Chinese and English newspapers gave high praise to "fang rending the achievements of the new exploration of Chinese painting", and many excellent works were collected by museums in various countries.
From left: Fang Ren set the vertical axis of "Ploughing Strike", and "Foraging" vertical axis
In 1941, Fang Rending, who had returned from the United States, joined hands with Spring Sleep disciples and organized the "Reconstruction Society" in Hong Kong with Li Fuhong and others, proposing that "Chinese painting art must get out of the dead end of specializing in antique fundraising and Chen Chen Xiangyin.". To this end, Fang Rending's ideas and actions shocked the painting world, and some articles even referred to Fang Rending as "a rebel of the Lingnan School" and a "cage chicken rebellion". Later, it traveled between Hong Kong and Macao. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he was a professor at the Guangzhou Municipal Art College and the director of the Department of Chinese Painting, and a professor at the Zhongnan Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1947, his photographs, artistic biographies and works were included in the only published "Yearbook of Chinese Art" published by the Republic of China. After the founding of New China, he successively served as a professor at the South China People's Academy of Literature and Art and vice president of the Guangdong Academy of Painting. His works have been selected for the first to fourth national art exhibitions in China, and his works have been collected by many cultural institutions. He has published "Fang Ren Ding Painting Collection", "Fang Ren Ding Memorial Collection", "Fang Ren Ding Commentary", "Complete Collection of Chinese Famous Painters Fang Ren Ding", "Fang Ren Ding Memorial Anthology", "Bright Festival Gao Feng - Fang Ren Ding Xiao Biography" and so on.
Fang Ren Ding Yi You (1945) composed the vertical axis of "The Dance of Peace"
Fang Rending is good at Chinese painting, calligraphy, theory, and poetry. Painting is specialized in people, next to landscapes, flowers, birds, and animals. He always believes that art is not born, but into the world, painting to face the suffering of life, figure painting is undoubtedly the best carrier. To this end, he vigorously advocated the reform of Chinese painting, and since 1926, he has published many articles in newspapers and magazines in Guangzhou and Shanghai, proposing that "the foreign is used for Chinese use, the ancient is used for the present" and "the tide is turned upside down", advocating that the content of Chinese painting "should take real life as the theme" and "truly and profoundly express the spirit of the nation"; in terms of technique, it is necessary to "compromise the East and the West" and "smelt the strengths of the Paintings of the East and the West in one furnace."
During his study in Japan, his eyes were wide open, and he lamented the decline of Chinese object painting and the detachment of art from reality, advocated that art should reflect life, reflect the times, and put forward the issue of reform and revitalization of modern Chinese figure painting. He set the following goals for his artistic path: first, the works take the figures as the main body; second, the painting subject takes the new posture of modern life as the object; third, the painting rules re-eclectic, that is, the brush and ink kung fu of Chinese painting, the light and dark colors of Western paintings, and the decorative taste of Japanese paintings, blending together, and using the technique of "eclectic things" to express the real situation of the toiling masses.
From left: Fang Rending, 1932 "To the Field" (Guangdong Museum of Art Collection), 1931 "Idle Day" (Guangdong Museum of Art Collection)
It should be said that during the Republic of China period, Fang's figure paintings mainly expressed real life, reflected the sufferings of the people, and expressed the national spirit, such as "The Poor Man's Meal", "Snow Night Escape", "Going to the Fields", "Autumn Night Street" and other masterpieces that depicted the blood and tears of farmers, hunters, shepherd children, blind people and poor people, and formed a unique style of "Painting of Human Determination". After the founding of New China, Fang adapted to the requirements of the times, turned his brush to the depiction of revolutionary themes, praised the people, praised the new life, and his works were mainly based on the combination of work and writing, with cheerful pictures, brilliant colors, spicy brushes, and powerful lines. In 1956, he held solo exhibitions in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shenyang, and the response was enthusiastic and praised. Representative works include "Asking Words on the Way", "Let Mothers Feed", "The Strongest Man", "Mr. Dongguo", "Drought Year Is Not Dry", "Pipa Line", "West Chamber" and so on.
Fang Ren Ding Yi Mi (1965) wrote the "Seven Words of the Book of Conduct", "Zhang Cao" vertical axis
Fang Rending was also good at calligraphy and poetry. The calligraphy skills are profound, especially the fine chapter grass, and its poetry is also very rich in the atmosphere of the times, and there are "Human Defined Poetry Drafts" in existence.
Fang Rending composed "Crossing the Water" in 1946
Fang Rending is also a famous theoretician of the Lingnan School, and is known as the "pen" of the Lingnan School. He has written a number of papers expounding his artistic propositions, among which the articles published by the "Fang Huang Controversy" during the Republic of China, such as "On the Subject Matter of Chinese Painting", "On the Three Absolutes", and "The Future of Chinese Painting", caused great repercussions in the Chinese painting world at that time, and also inspired many painters. In addition, from 1953 to the 1960s, fang Rending presided over the "Guangzhou Chinese Painting Symposium" also had a great influence, the meeting once a month, the symposium emphasized that there is no faction, no portal view, sometimes as many as fifty or sixty participants, the participants express their own opinions, a hundred flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought, the symposium became a beautiful landscape in the painting world at that time. Unfortunately, the "Fang Huang Controversy" of the Republic of China period, including the later "Guangzhou Chinese Painting Symposium", is no longer there. In his later years, he was bedridden, and he still wrote an important paper on "Line, Color, and Law- Three Problems of Chinese Painting", which was published in the Hong Kong Artist.
The collection of works is gradually getting better
Fang Rending had a great influence during the Republic of China period, second only to the founder of the modern Lingnan School of Painting, "Two High and One Chen". In the late 1920s and early 1930s, many of his works were exhibited overseas, and many of his works were collected by museums in various countries. After his death in 1975, he faded from people's sight.
Fang Ren set the vertical axis of "People", and Fang Ren set the vertical axis of "On the Way to School"
After the rise of art auctions in China in the early 1990s, Fang Rending's works did not appear much in the domestic and foreign markets, and occasionally appeared, either at average prices or auctioned. In 1996, Sotheby's launched Fang's largely elaborate "Foraging", which was only HK$37,200. In 1997, Sotheby's launched two works, "Fruit Picking" and "Tiger Head", the former one was estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, and the latter was estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 yuan, the valuation was not high, but the auction was auctioned. After entering the 21st century, with the sharp rise in the market of Chinese calligraphy and painting, Fang Rending's works frequently appeared in the market, and the price also rose to a certain extent, and in 2004, his 1941 work "Grab Milk" was priced at Sotheby's for 180,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the price was close to 200,000 yuan. In 2010, shanghai Hengli launcher made "Profit Chart" in 1953, which was priced at 1.064 million yuan, and the price exceeded the million yuan mark.
Fang Rending composed the vertical axis of "Grabbing Milk" in 1941
After that, fang rending the price of fine products was relatively firm, and the fine products remained above one million yuan, such as in 2011, Beijing Yirong's 1953 "Lychee Chart" was priced at 2.875 million yuan, setting a new market high for his works; in 2012, "Dance of Peace" was priced at 2.576 million yuan in Qin Baozhai; in 2016, he made "Returning to The Hunt" in 1932 and "Sunset Journey Away" in Beijing Kuangshi International for 1.955 million yuan and 1.725 million yuan respectively.
Fang Rending 1953 "Deli Tu" vertical axis
In recent years, due to the impact of the epidemic and the macro-economy, the art market is not satisfactory, so the price of Fang's works has also declined to a certain extent, such as in 2021, his 1961 "Youting Xiu Bamboo Map" was priced at Xiling Printing Agency for 621,000 yuan; in 1948, "Ji Kang Fuqin Tu" was auctioned for 437,000 yuan in Guangdong Jingcheng. Fang Rending's calligraphy also has a good market, especially Zhang Cao, such as his 1971 works in Beijing in 2010 was priced at 761,600 yuan; in 2014, "Zhang Cao Lu Xun Poems 5 Frames" was sold at Guardian for 115,000 yuan; in 2020, "Seven Words of Xingshu Lian" was sold in Poly for 69,000 yuan.
Fang Rending made "Let The Mother Feed" in 1958
In the author's opinion, Fang Rending belongs to the maverick painter in the Lingnan School, he combines Chinese and Western painting techniques, landscapes, flowers, birds and animal painting techniques in figure paintings, at the same time, in line with the requirements of the times, created a large number of character paintings that reflect the characters of the times, admiring his paintings has a sense of intimacy, so now major auctions at home and abroad are happy to auction Fang Ren's fixed works, such as Fang's 1958 work "Let Mother Feed" Since jiade was first launched in 1996, in more than 20 years, a total of 14 auctions have been auctioned. Interestingly, in the five years from 2005 to 2010, this work was auctioned 10 times by auction houses around the world, with an average of as many as 2 times a year, the frequency is very high, extremely rare, and only 1 of the 10 times the bid is flowing, 9 times sold, the highest price is in the 2010 Poly auction, the transaction price is 784,000 yuan. From this example, it can be seen that Fang Rending's modern figure paintings sell well and are very popular in the market.
Fang Ren set the vertical axis of "Eve of the Flower Market"
At present, Fang Ren's fixed works have become fixed lots at major auctions at home and abroad. From the perspective of market performance, although Fang Rending's works have ups and downs, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, they have shown an overall upward trend. At present, the price of modern figure paintings is more than one million yuan, and most of the fine works of landscapes and flowers and birds are in the hundreds of thousands of yuan. However, compared with guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai, Zhao Shaoang and Yang Shanshen, the second generation of the Lingnan School at the same level, both the market price and the artistic value are still significantly undervalued. If we talk about art, it can be said that each has its own advantages and characteristics. If we only use the theory of figure painting, Fang Rending is undoubtedly a prominent figure in the Lingnan School; if we talk about influence, Fang has a greater influence than Guan and Li during the Republic of China period, and after liberation, Guan and Li have a greater influence. The works of the later market side deserve the attention of investors and collectors.
Note: The pictures in this article are from the auction catalogue and the Internet