What is Shao Fang's occupation?

Shao Fang (19 18-), female, is a famous Chinese American painter, ceramist and architect. Originally from Changzhou, Jiangsu, now living in the United States.

Chinese name: Shao Fang

Nationality: China.

Ethnic group: Han nationality

Place of birth: Changzhou, Jiangsu

Date of birth: 19 18

Occupation: China painter, ceramist, architect.

Graduate School: University of West Virginia

Main achievements: the first female painter to copy Dunhuang murals.

Masterpiece: Changes of Pure Land in the West

basic document

Shao Fang (19 18-), female, is a famous Chinese American painter, ceramist and architect. Originally from Changzhou, Jiangsu, now living in the United States. She is a disciple of Chen Shaomei, a master of Chinese painting, the first female painter to copy murals in Dunhuang, high flyers, a famous American architect (Frank Lloyd Wright:1867-1959), the nephew and great-grandson daughter-in-law of the late Qing Dynasty's Prince Shao Bao and Sheng Xuanhuai, the first famous industrialist in China. On May 8, 2002, 84-year-old Sheng Shaofang was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities and arts by West Virginia University.

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19 18, Shao Fang was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, and his ancestors were a family of traditional Chinese medicine in Changzhou. Shao Fang likes nature, and she likes smearing since she was a child. Her family has long expected her to take the road of studying art when she grows up. Sure enough, she later became a disciple of Chen Shaomei, a "prodigy" painter, and worked as a teaching assistant in Chen Shaomei, and was nicknamed "Big Brother" by her classmates. Gao recalled that one year Shao Fang returned to China to visit relatives and friends, stopped by to see paintings and meditate in front of her works. The clerk stepped forward to chat up. She asked the master if he had any descendants. The clerk said that he only knew that there was a disciple in America who was still alive. She smiled and said, the little girl is.

In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War, she was a researcher at Dunhuang Art Research Institute, and the director was Chang Shuhong, a painter studying in France who was called "the patron saint of Dunhuang". 1944 went to Dunhuang to copy murals with Chang Shuhong, Dong, Zhang Daqian, Li Yu and Su. It is said that she was the first female painter to copy Dunhuang murals.

Today's world-famous deserts, Dunhuang, Thousand Buddha Cave and Crescent Spring were wasteland beyond the Great Wall in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's time, with traffic blocked and sparsely populated. Shao Fang, who regards art as her life, is accompanied by Dunhuang murals, addicted to expressing flying caves and burying her head in copying.

Shao Fang's copy of A Pure Land Change in the West, including 120 Bodhisattva, took two months. Zhang Daqian's attempt to draw this painting was praised by Director Chang Shuhong and all his colleagues. Fifty years later, Li Yu, a professor at Shenyang Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, still remembers it vividly.

194010/7. Shao Fang married Sheng Xuanhuai, the nephew of Prince Shaobao in the late Qing Dynasty and the first famous industrialist in China, and changed his surname after marriage. After marriage, since Sheng Shengbao was a highway engineer in Gan Xin, Shao Fang also went on an expedition to Jiuquan with her husband and lived in a harsh environment with yellow sand all over the sky.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Shao Fang gradually became a figure in the art world. Before going abroad, Shao Fang held an art exhibition in Nanjing, and political celebrities Zhu Jiahua and Zhang Daofan attended the opening ceremony. She copied the Dunhuang frescoes and spent dozens of years abroad with her.

In the feudal era at that time, Shao Fang was a fashionable woman who walked in the forefront of the times. She loves sports, and 65438-0936 was selected as the Hebei women's softball team in the 6th National Games. She was born with a good voice. After losing to America, she went to Cincinnati Conservatory of Music for further study. "At that time, I wanted to be a painter and a singer. 」

Shao Fang was a noble family at that time and was very strong. Li Changyu found four photos of Tianjin socialite Shao Fang 1934, 1935 and 1936, which were taken at the age of 16 to 18. One of them is 1936.

From 65438 to 0947, TaliesinSchool, founded by American architect Wright, enrolled students all over the world, and there was only one place in China. Wright saw Shao Fang's paintings, especially those copied from Dunhuang, and accepted them gladly. Shao Fang, 29, can lose to America.

Wright is regarded as one of the greatest architects in the world. His masterpieces include Guggenheim Art Museum in new york, Luoshui Village in Pennsylvania and Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. 1923 Tokyo earthquake, the building was almost destroyed, but the Imperial Hotel stood still. His theory of "Grassland Style" and "organic architecture" has influenced several generations. After his death, more than 50 buildings designed by him in the United States have been converted into Wright Memorial Hall.

Overseas life

The following year, Shao Fang came to the United States, and Sheng Shengbao also accepted Wright's invitation to come to the United States as an adjunct professor in the Department of Architecture of Ohio University. He had the opportunity to study for a doctorate at Harvard University, but he finally gave up and took architecture as the basis of his life.

After the Sheng couple came to the United States, with the help of Fei Zhengqing and Fei, they entered the mainstream society of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Fei Zhengqing and Shao Fang 1946 met in Chongqing, Nanjing and the United States. Their friendship is extraordinary.

From 65438 to 0953, Sheng Shengbao and Shao Fang went south from Rhode Island to work for AmericanCyanamid on the west side of the Ohio River. 1957, Sheng Shengbao moved to marietta Cement Company. He is more knowledgeable than ordinary people in civil engineering and philosophical thinking. It is respected and valued in Talison and Virginia.

1955, in order to live and work in peace and contentment, Mr. and Mrs. Sheng took a fancy to a scenic woodland located on the east slope of Williams Town, West Virginia, on the east bank of the Ohio River and decided to build their own dream.

As a civil engineer, Sheng Shengbao built a house according to his own ideas in order to realize his early dream. As early as 194 1, Sheng Shengbao had this dream when he was still building the Burma Road. He wrote to Shao Fang: "I always want to build some houses by myself. The west of Kunming, that is, the direction of Xishan Mountain, is indeed better than the east, with good feng shui, because houses are always built with the back of the mountain facing the east. Every morning, the sun shines on the house very early, which makes us get up very early and everything is full of vitality. 」

A few years later, Sheng Shengbao's dream came true in America. They used their spare time to build their own houses. From design to construction, they not only realized their dreams, but also handed over a beautiful report card to Wright School of Architecture. In order to return to nature, the building materials are mainly logs, steel and cement are used as little as possible, and dazzling decoration is not needed. A glass room with a three-story building area of about 350 square meters has been built. After the completion of 1955, it caused a sensation in Fiona Fang.

Today, there is still a sawmill in the "Yiran Pavilion", which bears witness to that period of history.

Sheng Shengbao and his wife believe that "good buildings beautify the environment and life". This all-wood structure house has an all-glass exterior wall in the east and a semi-glass wall in the west. In fact, it is a building built according to Wright's ideas of "grassland architecture" and "organic architecture", which is in harmony with the surrounding environment. The east side is a hillside, and the west side is a lawn surrounded by trees, with green grass. The full-screen glass on the east wall allows the sunlight to penetrate completely. You can have a panoramic view of the green mountains and green waters from the room.

Looking up from the foot of the mountain, the glass house stands on the hillside, like a wing, like a volley, with extraordinary momentum. Therefore, according to the allusion of "Pavilion with Wings" in Ouyang Xiu's The Story of Drunken Pavilion, it was named "Wing Pavilion" (English name: WingedPavilionStudio). "Zhang Zongwei Pavilion" faces the east with its back mountain, in order to maintain "vitality" forever, and beauty "is the intersection of God and nature in related fields".

Although these two towns are divided by the Ohio River and belong to two states, they are like a * * * in the psychological space of residents, because two large railway bridges can be erected across the river.

In the top left corner of the front page, marietta Daily reported the story of this glass house and its owner in an illustrated way, entitled "Very Capable and Beautiful Lady Sheng", and published a bust photo of Shao Fang wearing a black cheongsam, which was dignified and beautiful and looked like a typical China lady. The title is "Protected Lloyd Wright". The Sheng couple and their glass house have become the focus of local residents' news and media interviews.

Sheng Shaofang later held an art exhibition locally. Her painting style is unique and her artistic expression is a bit like Picasso's. Some people call her "Picasso's daughter in China". She is approachable and likes to make friends. Her charm has attracted the residents of the whole community and won wide respect and love in the local mainstream society. Everyone regards her as an "angel in oriental mythology", which is the impression Shao Fang left on local residents more than 50 years ago!

In June, 2000, 165438+ 10, her city once again held an exhibition of personal photography, painting, weaving, pottery and jewelry for her, and the local mainstream newspapers reported it on the front page with pictures and texts.

No wonder I sent her a letter. She didn't write the detailed address when she received it. A friend who had been to her recalled that he got lost in Williamstown and asked for directions at a local gas station. As soon as he mentioned the glass house, someone showed him the way. It can be seen that the reputation is well deserved.

Sheng Shaofang also has an apartment overlooking the river in Marietta, Ohio, just across the river from Williamstown. Li Changyu, a visiting scholar at Ohio University and a middle school teacher attached to Shandong University, visited Shao Fang's two residences in 2000 and praised her family's "good feng shui" many times.

Shao Fang proudly said that her two homes are located on the east and west banks of the Ohio River, in two states, one in the south and the other in the north, just like big Sunday and small Sunday. Because in the middle of the two bridges, the big Sunday and the small Sunday are connected together, forming an endless cycle curve. "Where can I find such feng shui?" One of the reasons is that she is nearly 90 years old and still full of vitality and youth.

Her apartment in marietta is used to entertain guests and rest; Her glass house "Forever Pavilion" in Williamstown is used as a residence and a studio. After more than 50 years of wind and rain, the house has become mottled and exudes historical vicissitudes.

Recent situation of Shao Fang

Shao Fang is over 90 years old, but she looks like the dragon horse in the zodiac, with no ears, no hunchback, no shaking hands and no eyes. She can wear a needle without glasses. Take the pipe and brush it away. She was a beauty when she was young. Today, this "old woman" is still as charming and beautiful as before. What is even more rare is that she is healthy, optimistic, open-minded, clear-minded, flexible, light-footed and not old.

In daily life, she advocates "the way of balance" and thinks that the first and most important thing is balance. She advocates a sense of balance between walking, eating, life and spirit. She said that when people get old, the stage of life is getting narrower and narrower, so we should pay attention to balance. She lives a full and meaningful life every day. Some people think that she is a lonely old woman and her life will be lonely and boring. "I have things to do every day. How can I be lonely? " 」

She enjoys herself and enjoys life in her own art world. She calls herself a workaholic and a night owl. Call her. It will be easier to find her at night. She has a wide range of friends, and her friends are grouped according to their hobbies. Drink coffee and chat; Practicing Qigong, Tai Ji Chuan; There are ticket friends who sing Beijing opera; There are painting friends who study art; There are sparrow friends playing mahjong and Sifang city.

She is very frugal and frugal, and there is no luxury furniture at home. She is very uncomfortable sitting in a chair with a price of 1000 yuan. She likes to visit the local GarageSale, and she is happy to wear clothes with a few cents. She is very generous to others and has sponsored many Chinese mainland scholars to study in the United States to complete their studies. She also donated a lot of money to the Wright Museum.

She said, when a person came into this world naked, prosperity is like a passing cloud, life does not bring it, and death does not take it away. Only art lasts forever, and the spirit is immortal. With her colorful life, she wrote a legend of "strange girl" rooted in a foreign country. She doesn't pursue exquisite food, but her spiritual world is solid and rich.

Shao Fang is versatile, drawing, knitting, sewing, making pottery, making jewelry and singing Beijing opera, which is almost decathlon. Autumn, winter and spring are the times when Shao Fang makes jewelry. She has a complete set of jewelry processing tools, including cutting, cutting, welding, riveting, grinding, forging, casting and so on. , and high temperature kiln.

American ladies and gentlemen are keen to wear jewelry with retro nostalgia, exotic flavor and originality. With the artistic skills accumulated in copying in Dunhuang, Shao Fang has mastered the kiln burning technology of ceramics and artificial agate gems, as well as the cutting and grinding technology of metals, and made simple, elegant, beautiful and elegant practical jewelry such as earrings, necklaces and bracelets with metals and ceramics as materials. The jewelry she makes is not repetitive, ever-changing and has a strong artistic quality. Although the material she uses is not precious metal and precious stones, it has a unique design and can meet the aesthetic needs of the upper class in the United States. The price ranges from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan.

ChautauquaLake, west of new york, is a big lake dotted with sailboats, and kerosene street lamps still stand in the small town beside the lake. There are antique houses on both sides of the red brick road, and there is a strong festive atmosphere everywhere. The central square of the community often holds handicraft exhibitions. Every summer, Sheng Shaofang drives from western Victoria to Chautauqua to sell homemade jewelry, which has been her main source of income for more than 40 years. This community is inhabited by many people who pay attention to life and have artistic taste, and they have strong purchasing power. Provide local education, art, religion and leisure activities, and often hold symphony, opera, drama and dance activities.

Sheng Shaofang also teaches at an advanced summer school in Xiaotuoke, where American celebrities come for the summer vacation. She taught them China Kung Fu, Qigong, Tai Ji Chuan and ink painting. She is the only Chinese teacher in this school and an evergreen tree.

Li Changyu, who is familiar with her, pointed out that Shao Fang has a clear goal in life, always has a sense of accomplishment, pride and excitement, always keeps in touch with society, actively participates in social activities, constantly stimulates creativity and pursues new goals. This is the mystery of her "spring comes to old age", and it is also the discovery of his many interviews with her.

Li Changyu said that she could "spend her old age peacefully" because "Sheng Sheng Bao will live in her heart forever".

Mr. and Mrs. Sheng loved each other all their lives, but unfortunately they had no children. From 65438 to 0987, Sheng Shengbao, who had been in good health, suddenly died of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases at the age of 73. Shao Fang's loss of his wife was almost painful, but she was optimistic by nature and finally got out of the pain of broken wings.

She likes not only artistic creation, but also housework. She never leaves the work of cleaning the house to others. She thinks things should be done diligently, methodically and methodically. She said vacuuming and mopping the floor was exercise. "How can others do such a good thing?" . Whenever a tourist comes from her hometown, she will catch up with the authentic Changzhou dialect, and the famous rotten bread in Changzhou that is about to be lost is her specialty!

Sheng Shaofang is also a Beijing opera lover. He studied under Cheng and Tan Jiao in Tsing Yi. Her mantra is: one minute on stage, ten years off stage. She rapped Beijing Opera by doing aerobic exercise and practicing Qigong. She amuses herself every day and keeps hanging her voice for an hour or two. Although she is in the dragon bell, she still sings with clear pronunciation and mellow voice. From Cheng Pai's clear singing in Tsing Yi to his light posture and dexterous orchid fingers, he looks like a professional Peking Opera actor. One winter, she went to Beijing to visit relatives and friends and stayed at Beijing Hotel. Every morning, she hangs her voice in the open space outside the lobby, singing and doing it alone, attracting many people to watch, and the security guard has to clear the room for her!

She studies tirelessly and never dies. On May 8, 2002, 84-year-old Sheng Shaofang was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities and arts by West Virginia University.