About this lot

Description

Fang Zhaoling (1914-2006) The Heart Sutra Calligraphy scroll mounted for framing, signed with seal mark and dated 1960 ink on paper 33.5 x 124.5cm Provenance: Given by the artist to her son, J.M.S Fang, and by him to his tutor in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Cambridge in about 1971 The Heart Sutra is a popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism.Fang Zhaoling was born in 1914 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, to an affluent family who placed her among the minority of the 1910s well-educated women. During her studies, while living in Shanghai, she excelled in traditional Chinese paintings under the supervision of Qian Songyan and Chen Jiucun. After many troubled years during the war in 1937, she left China for the United Kingdom to study European Modern History at the University of Manchester, becoming the first female Chinese student at the university. After graduating, along with her husband and children, she moved to Hong Kong in 1948. Whilst in Hong Kong she learned under Lu Xinnong and Zhao Shao’ang. In 1953, she later became a student of Zhang Daqian developing her artistic practices by exploring Daqian’s expressionist styles. Zhaoling paved the unprecedented way for Chinese female artists with her highly expressive work developed in an artistic language embedded in tradition. Some staining and discolouration evident to the mount. The calligraphy panel with some very minor scattered foxing, and some grubby handling marks which are mostly isolated to the peripheries. Appears to be stuck down to mount with some creasing visible to the right hand edge. See additional images.

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