Introduction
Inheriting the aesthetics of the Fu family, rich in the valleys of thought and skilled in the brush techniques of the ancients.
Fu Yi-Yao (1947- ) is the most beloved daughter of the late Grand Master artist Fu Bao-Shi. Since young, she has been on close terms with cultural and artistic heavyweights such as Chang Dai-Chien, Guo Mo-Ruo, Lin San-Zhi, and Lin Feng-Mian. In 1979, in the wake of Chinese economic reform, she became the first student approved by then Chinese leader Deng Xiao-Ping to study in Japan on a government scholarship. She studied under lkuo Hirayama Hideo Shioide and received guidance from Sanu Aoyama. She enjoys prestige amongst Japanese artists and around the world, and has held exhibitions in the United Nations. She is the only Chinese artist to have received Japan’s highest art award, the esteemed “Ringa Art Encouragement Prize” in Japan. In 2016, she also received the prestigious “Brilliance of China Award”. Upon invitation, she has also given many televised lectures for the Japanese TV broadcaster NHK. NHK had also made a popular documentary of the entire production process of the historical narrative painting “Buddhism to the East”, subsequently setting a new record for high viewership ratings.
Fu Yi-Yao’s main painting themes are the temple mural, the Japanese festivity painting, the ‘poetic’ painting, snow/rain scene paintings born out of her father’s unique alum-sprinkling technique, and the emulation of her father’s paintings after inheriting his brushwork skills. Her artworks are collected by many temples and shrines in Japan, as well as public and private collectors such as the National Art Museum of China, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan. Her folk festival painting series was also selected as the cultural support project of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, while her large temple murals are collected by the Japanese royal family and important imperial temples, such as World Heritage site, Enryaku-ji Temple at Mt. Hiei; Sanjusangendo, Kyoto; Sanzen-in Temple, Kyoto; Enman-ji Temple, Yokohama; Ryuto-in Temple, Nagano Prefecture, etc. Notable works include “The Spread of Buddhism to the East”, “Enryaku-ji Temple at Mt. Hiei”, and “Four Seasons in Sanzen-in Temple”. The style of her works is grand, majestic and passionate; yet possesses subtlety, control and philosophical wisdom at the same time. Fu Yi-Yao is an outstanding internationally acclaimed, ink painting female artist of both sublimity and delicacy, with both unrestrained spirit and inward modesty.