A Pioneer of Modern Chinese Painting: The Art of Lin Fengmian was jointly organized by the Shanghai Art Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The long-awaited exhibition consisted of paintings from the two museums as well as private collections. On display were the artist’s paintings from the 1930s to the 1980s. This retrospective presented Lin’s technical virtuosity and innovative spirit and reaffirmed his artistic authority in twentieth-century Chinese art. Lin Fengmian was born in 1900 in Guangdong province in China. He started his formal education locally and later went to Shanghai and joined a study program that allowed him to travel to Europe in 1919. Upon arriving in France, he immediately became interested in the modernist paintings of the Fauves movement. In 1926, he returned to China when he was appointed director of the National Beijing Fine Art School. Throughout his directorship, he steered the school that was both modern and Chinese, exposing students to the latest Western art concepts as well as to traditional Chinese painting. Unfortunately, his appointment as director ended with the 1937 Japanese invasion. After the 1949 liberation, Lin’s views on art did not meet the government’s approval and he was largely excluded from...