Li Fang

Li Fang graduated from Taiwan Provincial Normal College (now National Taiwan Normal University) in 1955. In 1957, she co-founded the Fifth Moon Group alongside Liu Kuo-sung and Kuo Tung-jung, establishing herself as a pivotal Chinese female artist in the movement toward the modernization and abstraction of Chinese art. In 1959, upon the recommendation of Chu Teh-Chun, she traveled to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts under Jean Souverbie, who also mentored Wu Guanzhong, Chu Teh-Chun, and Zao Wou-Ki during their years in Paris.

Li Fang’s early works are characterized by bold brushwork and heavy, vibrant colors, seamlessly fusing Chinese ink traditions with Western modern art. Starting in the 1970s, her practice returned to sketching from nature, employing intricate brush techniques and a bright, clear palette to convey a sense of poetic elegance.

Her recent retrospective exhibition, "Autumn Grasses Soothe the Heart: Li Fang’s Nomadic Brushwork," was held at the Guangdong Museum of Art in 2026. She was also featured in the group exhibition "Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstractions 1949-70" at Whitechapel Gallery, London in 2023, which subsequently toured to the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles and Kunsthalle Bielefeld in 2024.

Li Fang’s works are held in the permanent collections of prestigious international institutions, including Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francesco, M+, Hong Kong, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, X Museum, Beijing, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins (FAMM),Mougins.