Lin Fengmian

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

Chinese

Born in 1900, Xian de Mei, China.

Died in 1991, Hong Kong, aged 90.

He spent most of his life in China, both in Hangzhou and Beijing. He also briefly lived in Dijon then Paris, France as a student from 1918 to 1925.

Typical Subject Matter:

He typically depicts traditional Chinese themes and scenes from everyday life. He is best known for the female figures that populate many of his works. These figures go about their business, often indoors: they look at their reflection in the mirror, comb their hair, play music or simply sit. Many of the standing figures spread their arms as if dancing. He also extensively painted landscapes, depicting traditional houses within tree-populated lands among other scenes, as well as still lifes, floral compositions including lotus flowers on water, or birds.

Typical Style:

His highly personal figurative style brings together Chinese and Western art traditions.

The paintings are brightly coloured, and the backgrounds often tend towards geometric abstraction. His landscapes accentuate the colours of nature: oranges and reds are vivid, and details such as the leaves on trees and female garments are depicted in rapid, sparsely detailed brushstrokes.

His figures of women are treated in a geometric, non-realistic way. Their faces are mask-like. The eyes are exaggeratedly elongated into a thin almond shape, often drawn with a simple thick black line or half-closed. The bridge of the nose is marked by two thin lines, often black, which outline both the eyebrows and the nose. The hair is black, treated in masses, often made up of a few thick, coarse brushstrokes. These figures are dressed in muslin, rendered in transparent paint, almost like pastels.

His landscape drawings are more or less detailed, sometimes monochrome, sometimes combining different colours.

Typical Material and Media:

He mostly worked in oil and tempera on canvas, as well as in ink and colour on paper.

If you own a painting or a drawing by or attributed to Lin Fengmian, 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.