Former Residence of Lin Fengmian in Shanghai

Former Residence of Lin Fengmian in Shanghai

The Former Residence of Lin Fengmian in Shanghai is a cultural tourism attraction.

The former Shanghai residence of Lin Fengmian is located at No. 53 Nanchang Road, his last dwelling on the Chinese mainland. The residence is an old, somewhat dilapidated two-story red-brick building, square-shaped and without any particularly distinctive lines or colors. Lin Fengmian lived here for 25 years.

Lin Fengmian (1900–1991) was a famous modern painter and art educator, founder of the China Academy of Art, and one of the pioneers of modern art education in China. He was an advocate, trailblazer, and foremost representative of the artistic ideal of “merging Chinese and Western styles.” Drawing inspiration from modern Western painting after Impressionism, he integrated it with the artistic style of traditional Chinese ink painting and infused it with elements of his personal life experience. His ideas about painting had a profound influence on many later artists, which is why he is referred to as the “spiritual leader of 20th-century Chinese art.”

At the age of 19, Lin Fengmian went to France for work-study. He first studied Western painting at the École de Dessin de Dijon in France, then transferred to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. A world-renowned master painter, he was the earliest advocate and most important representative of “merging Chinese and Western styles,” as well as a pioneer and trailblazer in Chinese art education. In 1925, he returned to China and served as the president and professor of the Beiping Art Specialized School. In 1926, invited by Cai Yuanpei, the then-president of the National Academy of Arts, he became the director of the Art Education Committee of the National Academy of Arts. In 1927, again at Cai Yuanpei’s invitation, he went to West Lake in Hangzhou to establish the first higher institution of art in China — the National Academy of Art (now the China Academy of Art) — where he served as president. Later, he lived in seclusion in Shanghai, indifferent to fame and fortune. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he worked as an artist at the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, and as an advisor, executive director, and council member of the China Artists Association. In the 1970s, Lin Fengmian settled in Hong Kong. In 1979, he held a solo exhibition in Paris, which was a great success.

Address: No. 53 Nanchang Road, Shanghai

Transportation: Bus routes 167, 926, Inner Ring 146, 920, Sightseeing Bus Line 1, and 42