Fang Junbi

Appraisal and Market Value of Fang Junbi (1898–1986)   

After arriving in France in 1912, Fan Tchunpi (Fang Junbi) became the first Chinese artist to enroll at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where she trained in oil painting and academic realism. In the 1930s, she furthered her training under masters of the Lingnan School, a movement that blended Chinese traditions with Western influences, particularly in the treatment of light and depth.  

Upon her return to China in 1930, she played an active role in the emergence of modern Chinese art. Her career was abruptly cut short in 1939 when she was seriously injured in an attack that claimed the life of her husband, Zeng Zhongming. In 1949, she returned to Paris after nearly twenty years away.  

In the 1950s, she reconnected with several Chinese artists living in France, including Pan Yuliang and Sanyu. She also rubbed shoulders with a younger generation represented by Chu Teh-Chun and Zao Wou-Ki, former students of Lin Fengmian. Unlike these artists, who were drawn to the most contemporary forms of modernism, Fan Tchunpi remained faithful to the realist tradition she had inherited from her training in Paris.  

She eventually settled in the United States in 1957 and continued her artistic practice until the end of her life, leaving behind a body of work that bears witness to the dialogue between Chinese and Western painting traditions. 

How to Recognize a Work by Fang Junbi

She uses ink painting as her primary medium to explore traditional subjects, including portraits, nudes, floral arrangements, and urban landscapes, most often depicted from an elevated vantage point.    

Fang Junbi on the Art Market: The Artist’s Market Value  

Fang Junbi's works are currently highly sought after, particularly by Chinese collectors. The price of an oil on canvas can range from tens to hundreds of thousands of euros.