Lin Fengmian 林風眠 | Harvest 滿載而歸

Acquired by the father of the present owner in Shanghai in the late 1940s - early 1950s, and thence by descent.

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現藏家之父親於1940年末1950年初間得自上海，此後家族傳承

Lin Fengmian was a pioneer of modernism known for his brilliant hybridization of Chinese and European styles, subjects and methods. In his role as a prominent educator, Lin laid the foundation for Chinese modern art. Throughout his long and productive life, Lin absorbed a wide array of stylistic approaches into his paintings, and was one of the earliest Chinese artists to make a serious study of European modern art along with traditional ink paintings.

Lin’s early life was shaped by poverty and trauma. The son of a painter, Lin was born in Guangdong in 1900. At the age of seven, he watched in horror as his mother was sold into servitude. A year later, in a stroke of good fortune he bought a winning lottery ticket that would transform his fate. After completing middle school Lin used his remaining winnings from the lottery to travel with his friend Lin Wenzheng to Shanghai where they prepared for a work-study program in France. By 1920 Lin was working as a signboard painter in Marseilles, sketching and studying French in his spare time. Lin’s work as a sign painter would help develop the steadiness and clarity of his later brushwork.

Following six months of study at the School of Fine Arts in Dijon, Lin left for Paris where he studied at the École des Beaux Arts and the studio of Fernand Cormon (1845-1924). He had a highly eventful year in Germany, where he saw the works of German Expressionists and held a one-man exhibition, married his first wife, and exhibited 42 paintings in an Exhibition of Traditional and Modern Chinese Art. Soon after, with the untimely and sudden death of his wife and first-born child, the stunned Lin’s art and outlook were transformed. He remarried in 1925 and then returned to Beijing in 1926, committed to revitalizing Chinese art through education. After serving as the first principal of the National Beijing Fine Art School he founded the Hangzhou National College of Art where he taught Western style painting to students including Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, and Wu Guanzhong.

During the war, Lin Fengmian took refuge from the invaders and moved to Sichuan, where he lived in Chongqing on the south bank of the Yangtze river. He was diligent in his creative work and incorporated into his paintings all the scenes of life in the street markets and the fishing villages along the river, which were also the characteristics of this period of time. In this painting, the fishermen are busy gathering their catch, and the appearance of the characters is similar to that of the Miao people painted by the artist at that time. The brush is smooth, the lines are clear and fast, showing the skill of sketching, and the coloring is vivid, lively and bold, with a strong sense of life. Compare the subject and style, this work should be painted in the early in the early 1940s.

His work can be found in many museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Cernuschi Gallery of Asian Arts of Paris, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

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林風眠是中國現代藝術先驅，憑著其融合中國及歐洲藝術的風格、主題和創作手法享譽藝壇。他也是著名的教育家，桃李滿門，為中國現代藝術發展奠下基石。林風眠悠長的一生創作成果豐碩，作品融合多元風格。他是最早深入研究歐洲現代藝術的中國藝術家之一，亦熟悉傳統水墨畫。

林風眠童年時經歷貧窮與創傷。他1900年生於廣東，父親擅長丹青，七歲時親眼目睹母親被賣為奴。一年後，他買彩票中獎，憑獎金改變命運，完成中學後用剩下的獎金與友人林文錚一同前往上海，更決定前往法國勤工儉學深造。到了1920年，林風眠已經在馬賽生活，以繪招牌為生計，工餘時間畫畫及學習法文。繪招牌的工作為其穩健清晰的筆觸奠定了基礎。

林風眠在第戎國立高等美術學院學習六個月之後前往巴黎，在巴黎美術學院進修，同時師從費爾南·柯蒙（1845-1924年）。他到訪德國時，一年之內經歷許多重要事件：接觸德國表現主義藝術、舉行個人展覽、與首任妻子成婚、並於「傳統及現代中國藝術展」上展出42件作品。不久之後，林風眠的妻子因難產逝世，嬰兒夭折，他大受打擊，其創作亦因而改變。林風眠在1925年再婚，翌年返回北京，全力以教育振興中國藝術。林氏首先擔任北平藝術專門學校校長，後再創辦杭州國立藝專，教授西方繪畫藝術，弟子包括趙無極、朱德群、吳冠中等大師。

抗戰烽烟，林風眠避寇，輾轉入蜀，居於重慶市長江南岸之大佛段。他勤於創作，街頭市集之眾生百態、嘉陵江畔之漁村風貌，這些貼近生活之景象，一一採納入畫，亦此段時期之特色。本幅取近景描寫，高帆張懸下，漁人忙於收網，撿集所穫，人物裝束，相類畫家是時筆下之苗民。畫中用筆俐落，線條明快，見寫生之功，設色鮮麗，活潑大膽，生活氣息濃厚，若對照題材、風格，雖無紀年，仍可知屬四十年代初所作。

林風眠的作品獲世界各大博物館收藏，包括紐約大都會藝術博物館、巴黎賽努奇博物館、澳洲新南威爾斯美術館。