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Kunyi Zhang was a female Chinese artist who specialized in traditional Chinese Painting and Chinese calligraphy. KunYi Zhang is a feminist and a pioneer towards the development of female artists in China. She specializes in a number of different fields, and her artwork is celebrated globally.

Early Personal Life
KunYi Zhang (1895-1969) was the only female artist belonging to the group “Tian Feng Qi Zi” (天风七子), she became a student of QiFeng Gao at the age of 13 upon meeting him in Shanghai. Little of her life as a child is known, her parents passed while she was still very young. KunYi Zhang received an excellent education as a child and later as a teenager was given an education that concerned literature from various countries in Europe.

Education
KunYi Zhang’s art career can be divided into the studying of calligraphy as well as painting. She studied under two separate teachers, both masters, and well-celebrated artists in China. GongChuo Ye and QiFeng Gao impacted KunYi Zhang greatly and shaped the way she portrayed and created her artwork.

GongChuo Ye
KunYi Zhang became a student of GongChuo Ye at a young age. GongChuo Ye (1881-1968) is a well-known and respected artist in China, utill this day his paintings and calligraphy are a symbol of Chinese calligraphy of the 20th century. GongChuo Ye began his education before with his grandfather at a very young age, then proceeded to receive the private education. After graduating, GongChuo Ye spent his time teaching at universities and taking on the role of gallery manager for a gallery in Shanghai. GongChuo Ye was a collector of art and artifacts and had a large collection of extremely rare calligraphy paintings, these gave him inspiration as he learned to make both individual calligraphy and calligraphy and drawing paintings. GongChuo Ye donated a large proportion of his collections to various galleries in China, and many of them are now under the Protection of Cultural Relics Program in China. KunYi Zhang studied traditional Chinese calligraphy under GongChuo Ye, like QiFeng Gao, GongChuo Ye’s style of penmanship also greatly impacted KunYi Zhang, this can be seen through nearly all of her works that included calligraphy.

QiFeng Gao
KunYi Zhang studied under QiFeng Gao and cherished him both as a father figure as well as an excellent teacher. QiFeng Gao (1889-1933) was born into a family of Traditional Chinese medicine. His father passed when he was 7, his mother when he was 9. His family lived in poverty. In order to survive, QiFeng Gao began to work at a small art studio along with his brothers. At the age of 15, QiFeng Gao opened a shop in Guangzhou where he decorated and sold light shades for a living. In 1907, QiFeng Gao moved to Japan along with Jianfu Gao, where they became the students of a Japanese artist. He began to teach his own style and technique in 1925, but turned ill in 1929 and remained to live in Guangzhou. This, however, did not stop him from painting and teaching. In 1931, he won an award in an exhibition in Belgium. As he was preparing for an exhibition in Germany in 1933, his illness returned and he passed away in China at the age of 45. QiFeng Gao drew subjects such as deer, flowers, mountains, and landscapes. While being in Japan he encountered art styles from different countries around the world that broadly expanded his vision. Much of his works combine traditional Chinese watercolor painting with a Japanese painting style. QiFeng Gao played both the role of teacher and father to KunYi Zhang, her style of painting is heavily based on his teachings.

“Tian Feng Qi Zi”
Tian Feng Qi Zi refers to the seven students of QiFeng Gao (1889-1933), the creator of the Lingnan school of painting. The name “Tian Feng” held great meaning to QiFeng Gao, and thus this name is used till this day to represent seven of QiFeng Gao’s most famous students: YiFeng Zhou, KunYi Zhang, ShaoBing Ye, Qiyuan He, SuShi Rong, Shao-Qiang Huang, and Shao-Ang Zhao. KunYi Zhang was one of the first students out of the seven to study under QiFeng Gao in Shanghai and the only female student.

YiFeng Zhou
Being the eldest out of the seven, YiFeng Zhou (1890-1982) had a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese art in general. Born into a family that worked in art collecting, YiFeng Zhou began studying art at a very young age. After studying under two teachers, YiFeng Zhou met QiFeng Gao and remained his student. YiZhou could understand his teacher’s techniques and with it, he developed his own recognizable style. YiZhou Feng specializes in landscape paintings and has held six exhibitions in HongKong. His work is highly praised, in addition to his Chinese calligraphy.

KunYi Zhang
KunYi Zhang (1895-1969) was closest to QiFeng Gao out of the seven students, and was like a daughter to him, as she had studied with him at a young age. KunYi Zhang was given the best education as a young child, as she came from a family where both her parents were literate and worked with art. At age 13, KunYi Zhang began to study subjects such as ancient poetry, and literature that came from Japan, Great Britain, and Germany. She began her art career by studying a different art school but changed quickly after meeting QiFeng Gao in Shanghai. KunYi Zhang was a master of illustrating bird-and-flower painting, through the few works that still exist we can see the shadows of Gao’s style. Her studies with GongChuo Ye on calligraphy have also highly impacted her work. KunYi Zhang’s best works were highly popular around the year 1927. After QiFeng Gao became ill in the winter of 1933, KunYi Zhang made it her responsibility and priority to look after him, and after his death worked hard to publish a number of QiFeng Gao’s portraiture paintings. In 1939 KunYi Zhang arrived in the United States to open her touring exhibition around the country and later on settled and stayed in the United States until her death in 1969.

ShaoBing Ye
ShaoBing Ye (1896-1968) was the only student to stay in mainland China after 1949, because of this, his paintings portray a lot of themes that are different from the others. Little is known about this artist. ShaoBing Ye did not continue the family business but rather focused all his time on art and painting. He painted a variety of subjects, including landscape and animals, later he focused on bird and flower painting. In 1933, his painting Water Lily won an award in Berlin, and the biggest publishing houses around the time made many articles on him and the event. In 1937, ShaoBing Ye became a professor in Guangzhou while continuing to work on his own art. Considering his work and the events he attended, ShaoBing Ye’s work can be divided into two stages, the first stage before 1957 and the second after 1957. Most of his early work is now untraceable, but he drew inspiration from Japanese paintings and added Chinese elements to create something new. ShaoBing Ye also helped write a number of articles that discussed art in China and its development.

QiYuan He
QiYuan He (1899-1970) spent most of his life in Hong Kong, therefore his work is more known and celebrated in HongKong. QiYuan He started his art career with JingMing Wu, a Chinese artist who specialized in human portraiture and facial representation. After the death of QiFeng Gao, QiYuan He devoted his career to teaching and inspiring more young artists. QiYuan He was excellent in every field, especially landscape and flower paintings. His style can be divided into two. One style favors QiFeng Gao more, the other is more traditional in details such as structure and the use of colors.

ShaoQiang Huang
ShaoQiang Huang (1901-1942) is the only student of the seven who favored portraiture. His art closely relates to the portrayal of poverty and other social problems seen within society. His education as a young child was exceptional, and was the strongest academically throughout the seven. In 1920 ShaoQiang Huang had the opportunity to study Western oil paintings, making him the only student out of the seven to have his own oil painting creations that still exist today. This experience changed the way the field of Chinese art developed and grew. ShaoQiang Huang lived in an age where China was thrown into war, he saw desperate people, the poor, young people doing anything they could to keep themselves alive, this became a form of inspiration for him. In many of his paintings, traditional Chinese art can be seen in addition to elements of Western art. ShaoQiang Huang was a great lover of Chinese calligraphy, and his collections allowed his to form his own style as an artist.

SuShi Rong
Little is known about SuShi Rong, many people are still debating on which year he was born, and his death is not recorded. SuShi Rong is a master at painting lychee, and his paintings have won awards in Great Britain, United States, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Thailand and Africa. Some of his art were auctioned to different countries, the money was donated in his name to China. Though SuShi Rong never acquainted himself with business, he published a large number of books and articles about the depiction of landscape, animals and lychee. SuShi Rong spent his late years in Hong Kong, where he only made a few paintings of a much smaller scale. His style changed to be more traditionally Chinese in later years like many of the seven students.

ShaoAng Zhao
ShaoAng Zhao (1905-1998) was the youngest student out of the seven. ShaoAng Zhao began to study under QiFeng Gao at the age of 16, and remained active in the art scene for over two decades. ShaoAng Zhao and his paintings have attended over a hundred exhibitions, both within mainland China and internationally. Like many of the other students, his paintings can be divided into an early and later stage, with the evident divide being the 1950s. The first half of his career is heavily influenced by QiFeng Gao, the other Japanese paintings. The paintings that belong to his early stage can only be seen in galleries and museums today, while paintings belonging to the second half of his career can still be seen on the art market and remains to grow in value till this day.

Tian Feng Qi Zi Working Together
The students of Tian Feng Qi Zi were well known for their collaboration on a single art piece. The most well-known and iconic painting is Portrait of QiFeng Gao, a painting created by ShaoQiang Huang, ShaoAng Zhao, ShaoBing Ye, SuShi Rong, YiFeng Zhou and QiYuang He. This painting was made to celebrate their teacher, each student added their own style to the painting. After the death of their teacher, the seven students departed to different parts of the world, and this tradition of creating paintings together died away. The art they created did not look the best, but the meaning behind it represented art in China and the exploration of different styles and traditions in addition to the celebration of the contributions made by QiFeng Gao.

Art Career
KunYi Zhang developed a unique style of painting with the help of her teachers. Her art has been praised throughout the past decades, and she is now considered to be one of China’s most famous women contemporary artists who worked in the field of traditional Chinese art and Chinese calligraphy. Her works have always been of great value to the art world in both China and globally, and her contributions even influenced the revolution within China that she experienced. Under her influence, art became a form of expressing opinions towards the war and a reflection of society in general. KunYi Zhang painted in a different style after the death of teacher QiFeng Gao, and focused more on promoting art spreading it throughout the world.

Artistic Style
Most Twentieth Century works represent a golden age in the five thousand years old art form of Ink wash painting. Kunyi Zhang was especially proficient at painting traditional landscape scenery, and bird and flower painting. Her work falls within the category of the so-called Lingnan school of painting. Her career in this particular field began in 1919. Meanwhile, the great painter, Qifeng Gao, became her teacher. Kunyi devoted immense effort to enhancing her skill as a painter. In her later artworks, the “masculine” and “feminine” spirits live in harmony and evince a beauty of both grandeur and urbanity. Most Chinese calligraphic painting was elegant, but in Kunyi’s work, there are many “gentle” elements and a romanticism that could only be created by a female artist. Her painting style was deeply influenced by her teacher, Qifeng Gao. Moreover, Kunyi was passionate about painting birds and flowers. In 1930, The Lotus with Quail received the gold medal at the International Exhibition in Belgium.

Traditional Landscape Scenery
The first decades of the twentieth century marked the end of the insular, tradition-bound Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and the forceful entry of China into the modern age. Most traditional landscape painting was elegant, but in Kunyi’s traditional landscape work, there are many “gentle” elements and a romanticism that could only be created by a female artist. Her painting style was deeply influenced by her teacher, Qifeng Gao. KunYi Zhang’s paintings focus heavily on traditional landscape scenery, which focuses on Shan shui, where the mountains, water and other shapes created on the canvas heavily relies on brushwork and the contrast between light and dark in addition to finer and thinker lines create an imagery that suggest to people certain objects within the painting. Her paintings also often show “masculine features”, as the brushstrokes show no hesitation, and are bold and strong.

Landscape Scenery
KunYi Zhang is known for using darker, thinner lines when depicting mountains. Her brushwork allows her to carefully show details such as the edges of the mountains, enhancing the idea of dimension. Her trees are most often depicted with softer, shorter strokes, as if they have been caught in a gust of wind.

Birds and Flowers
Birds and flowers are a speciality of KunYi Zhang’s. Her branches are often portrayed with thicker lines, with great contrast of light and dark to give the branch dimension. Her flowers are mostly painted in bright colors such as pink and red. Her lotuses are painted nearly always with fine and simple strokes to emphasize the Chinese belief that lotus flowers are a symbolization of purity, one of most important virtues. The bird and flower genre have been a time-honored, deeply-seated tradition in the history of Chinese art. However, it has encountered a crisis of existence since the 20th century when many artists turned to Western painting style, which including Kunyi.

Calligraphy
Kunyi Zhang was also proficient at painting Chinese calligraphy. The greatest exponents of Chinese calligraphy throughout history were Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi, in the fourth century. In a technical sense, Chinese calligraphy is neither complex nor mysterious. Calligraphy requires a few simple tools and is similar to ink wash painting – an ink stick, an ink stone, a brush and paper. The calligrapher uses a combination of technical skill and imagination to create calligraphic paintings. Calligraphy must provide interesting shapes and compose beautiful structures without any shading. As one may imagine, years of training and disciplined practice is required in order to achieve real proficiency. The fundamental inspiration of Chinese calligraphy is nature, as is common with all arts in China. Kunyi Zhang was one of the female artists that were most accomplished at Chinese calligraphy, as a result, most of her works depicted calligraphic images. The style of Kunyi’s calligraphy was unique. Allegedly, because she was a female artist, her work was mostly “gentle” and romantic. However, her teacher was the originator of the Ling nan school, hence she was deeply influenced by him, and there are both “hard” (刚) and “soft” (柔) styles in her calligraphic works. In 1938, Qifeng Gao died in Hong Kong. Kunyi wrote many poems to commemorate him, and those works became a famous part of her oeuvre. The most famous was The Picture of Resentment Filling the Universe. This work reflected her longing for him.

Exhibitions
After Qifeng Gao died, Kunyi never ceased working. She became a resident in the United States and helped Chinese overseas citizens during the Second Sino-Japanese War. On January 28, 1939, Kunyi took 90 paintings by Qifeng Gao to San Francisco. She attended the San Francisco Exposition, and many overseas Chinese were evidently proud of her work. After 1940, Kunyi chose to settle permanently in the United States. She had an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, entitled The Art Exhibition of Qifeng Gao and Kunyi Zhang. For the rest of her life, she continued working to popularize both Chinese calligraphy and Chinese landscape painting, especially in her adopted country. In 1969, Kunyi died from heart disease in her apartment in New York.

List of Exhibitions in China

 * China Women’s Art Exhibition, Ning-Bo, 1934
 * ShaoAng Zhao Art Gallery, 2012-2013
 * QiFeng Gao and Tian Feng Qi Zi Exhibition, Hong Kong University, 2013
 * JianFu Gao and Students Exhibition, Taiwan, 2017
 * Tian Feng Exhibition, ZhuangZhou, 2017
 * LingNan School art exhibition, Jilin Provincial Museum, 2018

Auctions
KunYi Zhang’s art is till this day one of the most expensive within the art market of China. In 2005, FuBi Su bought KunYi Zhang’s Fallen Flower and Bird in an auction in Hong Kong for 53424RMB. In the same year, another of her paintings Flower and Bird sold for 55000RMB in GuangZhou, with the rest of the smaller paintings being sold for around 3000-5000 RMB. As of 2008, her paintings vary from 4,300 RMB to 10,000RMB per flat inch, her artwork has sold up to 1,574,093 RMB in total, with many paintings still being auctioned. Apart from her teacher QiFeng Gao, she remains the second painter with the highest value for her artwork. KunYi Zhang’s art can be sold for a larger value in Hong Kong compared to mainland China, as she is more well known there as an extremely famous and successful woman artist. One of the most recent auctions that took place in Hong Kong in the spring of 2018 lists her artwork XiangBi Mountain for approximately 150,000 HKD. Other paintings such as Wild Geese In The Moonlight has been sold for 125,000 HKD, and Roaring Tiger for 75,000 HKD.