Lin Fengmian
Lin Fengmian (November 22, 1900 – August 12, 1991), originally Lin Fengming (林凤鸣), was a Chinese painter and is considered a pioneer of modern Chinese painting for blending Chinese and Western styles; he was one of the earliest Chinese painters to study in Europe. He was also an important innovator in the area of Chinese art education. He was one of the pioneers of Chinese modern art, who earned the title of "The Four Great Academy Presidents".
Also recorded as Lin Fengmin · Fengmian Lin · Lin Feng-Mmien · Feng-mien Lin
Lin Fengmian

https: collection.sina.com.cn/zgsh/2017-01-18/doc-ifxzqnim4983805.shtml · Public domain
- Name
- Lin Fengmian
- Born
- 22 November 1900
- Birthplace
- Mei County, Guangdong, Qing China
- Died
- 12 August 1991
- Place of death
- Hong Kong
- Known for
- Modern Chinese painting
- Spouse
- Elisa von Roda (m.1924) Alice Vattant (m.1925)
- Nationality
- People's Republic of China.
- Occupation
- painter, university teacher and journalist.
- Education
- Beaux-Arts de Paris and China Academy of Art.
- Teachers
- Fernand Cormon.
- Languages
- Chinese.
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Documentary summary
Lin Fengmian (November 22, 1900 – August 12, 1991), originally Lin Fengming (林凤鸣), was a Chinese painter and is considered a pioneer of modern Chinese painting for blending Chinese and Western styles; he was one of the earliest Chinese painters to study in Europe. He was also an important innovator in the area of Chinese art education. He was one of the pioneers of Chinese modern art, who earned the title of "The Four Great Academy Presidents".
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Note VALÉORINE
Lin Fengmian (1900–1991) was a journalist, painter and university teacher, of Chinese nationality. The journalist was born in Jiaying Zhou and died in Hong Kong.
Lin Fengmian was educated at Beaux-Arts de Paris and China Academy of Art. The journalist worked for École des Beaux-Arts and was a member of Juelan Club. Lin Fengmian worked in People's Republic of China.
Languages used include Chinese. Works are held at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ashmolean Museum and National Museum of World Cultures, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q986362 · wikipedia · Lin Fengmian
In this article
Biography
Biography
Lin Fengmian studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris and China Academy of Art. Training under Fernand Cormon is recorded. Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun and Muxin are recorded as having studied under Lin Fengmian. The recorded working language is Chinese. Places of work recorded in the authority are People's Republic of China. Employment is recorded with École des Beaux-Arts. Work by Lin Fengmian is recorded in the collections of Ashmolean Museum, National Museum of World Cultures, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Yale University Art Gallery and Princeton Art Museum.

Lalan, Zao Wo-ki and Lin Feng mian
Lalan, J.M. Beuredeley
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Lin Fengmian • Born — 22 November 1900 • Birthplace — Mei County, Guangdong, Qing China • Died — 12 August 1991 • Place of death — Hong Kong • Other Names — Lin Fengming • Known for — Modern Chinese painting • Spouse — Elisa von Roda (m.1924) Alice Vattant (m.1925) • Parents — Lin Yulung • Illustration — Lin, Lalan, and Zao Wou-ki in 1946 Lin
Biography
Biography
Born in Ge Gong Ling village which is located in Meijiang District, Xiyang Baigong Township, in the suburbs of today's Meizhou municipality in Guangdong province, China. His father was a painter and Lin displayed an early fascination for arts and excelled at it. As part of the young Chinese elite, Lin participated in the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Program and went to France. He travelled to Paris with Chinese architect Liu Jipiao and artist Lin Wenzheng and he connected with Chinese artists living in Paris, such as Xu Beihong. Lin spent the early years of his career in Europe, moving to the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France in 1920 to study painting in the studio of Fernand Cormon, who also trained other such renowned painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Bernard, etc. In 1923, he moved to Berlin, Germany for a study tour. In 1926 he returned to China, where he became the principal of the National Beijing Fine Art School. In 1928, with encouragement from Cai Yuanpei, he founded the Hangzhou National College of Art (now called the China Academy of Art) in Hangzhou, becoming its first principal and taught western painting along with French-trained artists such as Fang Ganmin and Wu Dayu. Lin's works and life were met with great tragedy. While many of his early works were destroyed by Japanese soldiers during the Sino-Japanese War, many of his later works were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. After being heavily criticized and denounced by the Gang of Four, a Chinese political faction, Lin personally destroyed his own works by soaking and then flushing his works down the toilet; however, he still ended up being imprisoned for over four years. Zhou Enlai finally approved his release papers. After his release, Lin slowly began to recreate many of his previously destroyed works. • Illustration — Former Residence of Lin Fengmian in Shanghai In 1977, thanks to the assistance of Marshall Ye Jianying, who is also from Meizhou, he was allowed to leave China on the assumption that he could reunite with his family in Brazil. He visited his family on several occasions in Brazil but settled in Hong Kong, where he remained until his death in 1991. Fengmian's artwork is featured in museum art collections, including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cernuschi museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In April 2021 Lin's painting The Fiery Battle Of Red Cliffs was sold for HK$9,855,000 at the Sotheby's Spring sales in Hong Kong.
Cote de l'artiste
Cote de l'artiste
His work "Mare de lotus la nuit" sold for €182,000 at a contemporary art auction in Paris in 2013.
Identity
Identity
Lin Fengmian is recorded with the occupation university teacher. Recorded with the occupation journalist. Recorded with the occupation painter. Recorded as painter, university teacher and journalist.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1900
Lin Fengmian was born on 22 November 1900.
1991
Lin Fengmian died on 12 August 1991.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Jiaying Zhou.
Birth place
Hong Kong.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q986362: Lin Fengmian
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Lin Fengmian”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Collection: Seated Woman. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met).
- 2.Property From an important private Asian Collection – Yan Wenliang. Sotheby's. 2010.
- 3.Seno, Alexandra A. Lin Fengmian: An unconventional master of Chinese art. The New York Times. 2007-05-23.
- 4.Lin Fengmian Paintings Chinese Art Gallery China Online Museum. www.chinaonlinemuseum.com.
- 5.Wong, Jennifer. The Newsletter - 'The Chinese Art Deco architect of the 1925 Paris Expo' – My grandfather. International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS). 2013.
- 6.Lin Fengmian Paintings Chinese Art Gallery. China Online Museum.
- 7.The Collection - (Chinese theatre), (circa 1950). Art Gallery NSW.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Lin Fengmian studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris and China Academy of Art. He trained under Fernand Cormon. Each of those relationships is stated by the authority record rather than inferred from style.
The authorities additionally record the headings Lin Fengmin, Fengmian Lin, Lin Feng-Mmien, Feng-mien Lin and Lin Feng Mien. His recorded language was Chinese.
Identity and origins
Recognition and collections
Work by Lin Fengmian is
Ashmolean Museum, National Museum of World Cultures, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Yale University Art Gallery
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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