Narcissus and Taro

Wang Fangyu (1913-1997) wrote the book Master of the Lotus Garden, the Life and Art of Bada Shanren with Richard M Barnhart in 1990. Born in Beijing, Wang graduated from Beijing Furen University pedagogical faculty in 1936. In 1944 he went to study in the USA and obtained his Masters degree in 1946 from Columbia University. He taught at Yale University from 1955 to 1965, and as a professor at Seton University from 1965 to 1978, where he was appointed Head of the Asian Studies Department from 1972 to 1974. Wang Fangyu started his collection in the 1950s when he acquired a few works by Bada Shanren from the artist Zhang Daqian. Wang then spent the next several decades in the study of Bada Shanren and became one of most important collectors and connoisseurs on this artist.