Fu Baoshi

We authenticate, certify, issue certificates of authenticity (COA), appraise the value and broker the sale of paintings and drawings by FU Baoshi.

Chinese

Born in 1904, Jiangxi, China.

Died in 1965, Nankin, China, aged 60.

He spent most of his life in China. He also briefly lived in Japan as a student in the 1930s, as well as in the Sichuan region during Second World War. In 1957, he visited Romania and Czechoslovakia.

Typical subject matter:

He typically painted traditionally dressed figures and landscapes, including cityscapes, views of mountains, rivers, and waterfalls. Industrial infrastructures such as electric power lines often appear in both his landscapes and cityscapes. Both his figure and landscape paintings are filled with trees situated in different planes, more or less distant from the viewer. Meteorological phenomena such as rain and wind are sometimes visible in his depictions.

Typical style:

He is renowned for having distancing himself from traditional Chinese art, by introducing spontaneity to typical scenes from Chinese painting. His brushstroke sometimes seems insecure and unstructured, and the blurred effect is due to the tousling of his brush. His paintings are marked by great spontaneity, especially in his smallest works. The lack of structure in his compositions is made up for by an original layout and the application of a very liquid wash.

Typical material and media:

He mostly worked in ink and pigments on paper, applied in grey washes, sometimes enhanced with reds.

He also worked as a seal engraver and art historian.

If you own a painting or a drawing by or attributed to Fu Baoshi, we would like to learn about it. Please send us photos or contact us at [email protected]. You will generally receive a response within 24 hours.