Fang Ganmin

Fang Ganmin was a Chinese French-trained painter, sculptor and educator, who was educated in Paris and spent most of his adult life in China. Regarded as one of the pioneers of Chinese oil painting, Fang was born in the Wenling county, Zhejiang province. He began studying painting in 1924 and went to Paris in 1925, enrolling in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, making him one of the first-generation Chinese painters to study abroad in France. Upon returning to China, he taught at the National Arts Academy, Hangzhou, becoming a professor at the Western Painting Department. During the Cultural Revolution, Fang was shamed and tortured by the Red Guards, and his works were destroyed. He died in 1984. His students include Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun and Wu Guanzhong.