Museum celebrates native son Fan Zeng

A museum of art dedicated to Fan Zeng, a renowned master of painting and calligraphy, has opened in Nantong city, Jiangsu province.

Located on the campus of Nantong University, the museum was designed by Zhang Ming, an architecture professor of Tongji University in Shanghai.

Using the traditional concept of a Chinese courtyard, it covers 6,600 square meters in three sections. 

The first section mainly exhibits his[torical records of the Fan family including profiles, artworks and letters by famous poets and scholars born in the Fan family in Nantong since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). As a big family in the city, the Fan family is well-known to locals as it has cultivated many artists and poets over the past 13 generations.

The second section is about Fan Zeng himself, including a personal introduction, monographs and albums as well as all the awards he received.

The third section houses a collection of 70 pieces of Fan Zeng’s paintings and calligraphy works, including some of his best-known such as Canghaixing, a large painting depicting the ancient legend of eight immortals crossing the sea.

There is also a research center for the poems, articles, paintings and calligraphy by the Fan family in the museum.

The Fan Zeng Art Museum was inaugurated on the campus of Nantong University in late November 2014. [Ding Congrong/China Daily]

Zhou Jianzhong, curator of the museum, said the facility will provide an important venue to train art students on the campus.

Born in Nantong in 1938, Fan Zeng has become a master of paintings, calligraphy and poems. He is also an accomplished scholar in the study of ancient Chinese culture.

He has published more than 160 books about poems, paintings, calligraphy and philosophy. Most of his books are in collections at the National Library.

He now serves as president of the Chinese Painting Research Institute at Peking University. He is also a tenured professor at Nankai University and Nantong University.

In 2009, he was appointed as a “special consultant to diversified culture” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

In 2010, Fan was conferred the honor of Legion d’Honneur by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy to reward his tremendous contribution to Sino-French cultural exchanges.

Paintings and calligraphy works by renowned art master Fan Zeng at the museum draw visitors. [Ding Congrong/China Daily]

He also received honorary doctorates at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom and the University of Alberta in Canada. Curator Zhou said “it is not a coincidence” that the museum is located in Nantong. It shows Fan’s deep attachment to his hometown.

It was in 2003 when Zhou first raised the proposal to build such a museum during a meeting with Fan Zeng.

“As one of the top art masters and scholars in China, Fan Zeng has always been the pride of Nantong,” Zhou said.

“So it is a great idea to set up a museum to collect, showcase, research and protect Fan’s works in his hometown.”

Zhou said to his surprise, Fan not only agreed with the idea on the spot, but also promised to donate 13 of his paintings as a first batch.

During the construction period that lasted more than five years, Fan visited the site every time he went back to Nantong.

Fan personally approved the design of the museum and reviewed all the text on exhibitions. He also donated a large number of cherished personal belongings and works to the museum.

Among all of the more than 100 works on display in the museum, 51 are originals with an estimated total market value of more than 200 million yuan ($32 million).

“I belong to China, but I also belong to Nantong,” Fan said at the opening ceremony of the museum in November.

“This is the place that holds the treasures all my childhood happiness, my teenage dreams and my youthful pursuits. Nantong is also the place I often dream about.”

Contact the writer atdingcongrong@chinadaily.com.cn