Discover the life and work of the women of the FAMM
(1933 - 2020)
Painter
Chinese
Li Fang (also known as Li Fangzhi) (1933-2020) was a modern and contemporary Chinese artist.
Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, she joined the art department of NTNU in 1951 and studied drawing in the painting studio of Lee Shih-Chiao. She was the only woman to have founded the Fifth Moon Art Group in 1957, a collective of radical artists in post-war Taiwan that pioneered modern art from the mid-1950s to the 1970s.
After studying for two years in Paris, she settled in the Swiss mountains, living a rural life that shaped her distinctive artistic style.
Early in her career, Li produced mostly abstract paintings with intense colors and bold brushstrokes. With multi-layered brushwork and bright, clear colors, Fang manifested a mental space of elegance and joy.
'When I paint, my heart is full of appreciation for the scene before me. My heart is also full of affection for my people. I sincerely hope to record my feelings so that others can also feel this joy.
Li Fang combined traditional calligraphy techniques with new abstract languages, aligning with the international modernist movement while expressing her deep cultural roots and revitalizing 20th-century Chinese painting at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures.