Pang Tseng-Ying

Biography

In Pang Tseng-ying's early abstract works often tinged with a surrealist flavor paints were brushed on, smeared, dripped , and allowed to flow, in combination with thick black lines that zip across the canvas. The genres in which he worked also included richly-patterned traditional paintings of birds and flowers, which hinted at the style of similar works from the Five Dynasties period, with their bright colors and busy compositions. Whether his inspiration derived from embroidery, brocade, or even the dyed silks of the Tang-era, these works all exhibit string colors in combination with a variety of patterns, textures, and images, in a complexly woven composition with a strong oriental feel.

Pang Tseng-ying was born in 1961 in Shandong and grew up in Beijing. Instructed in Chinese calligraphy from childhood by his mother and studying traditional Chinese painting at an early age, he entered the Beijing Chin-Hua Arts College at 18 and studied Western painting. He received a scholarship to study in Japan and entered Nippon University, and returned to teach at Beijing Chin-Hua Arts College after graduation. He brought his family to Taiwan in 1949, where he taught at the Taipei First Girls High School, the National Fine Arts College, and the Fu Hsing Business & Technology College. He held his first solo exhibition at the New York's Argent Gallery in 1954, putting on display works painted in the mainland, Taiwan, and Tokyo; the exhibition was given prominent media coverage. Pang had produced numerous oil paintings in the more than a decade he spent in Taiwan as a member of the modern painting movement during the 50s and 60s. In 1965 Pang received the highest national honor, the Chiang Kai-shek Award; in 1966 he took up residence in the US, where he received approval and support in the artistic community, further assuring his later standing among modern painters.