Artist travels the world's cities to absorb their special

　　characteristics so he can paint them for others to enjoy

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　By Xu Jitao

　　Yu Fan might appear to live his lifein two parts: successful artist and successful businessman. But he doesnt consider the two unrelated."I enjoy the challenges of both," he said. "My experiences in the arts help understanding of business – and vice versa."

　　Yu, a Chinese Australian, is one of the most successful overseas Shanghai painters. He was born in Chongqing in 1941, but his family moved to Shanghai soon after. He attended primary and middle school in Shanghai.

　　He jokes that he has the lowest qualifications among all overseas Chinese painters because the degrees he received after high school were not recorded when he was in China. He managed to obtain higher education -- after he graduated from Shanghai Hui Minority School, he continued to study at the former Shanghai Education Academy. After he migrated to Australia, he received a certificate in art from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

　　Road to painting

　　Yu always said that he never stops studying, wherever he is. "Persistence is the only thing I had during my hard times. Thanks to that, I got through my darkest days and successfully pursued most of my ideals," he said.

　　Unlike artists who consider their gift their most important quality, Yu insists that no one is born an artist. "Some said that I was gifted in painting, but I do not think so. The key to my success is persistence alone. I think it's the key for all artists,~ he said.

　　Yu was not trained as a painter when he was a child. "I liked drawing when I was young, but I had no opportunity to receive professional training," he said. Born into an ordinary family, he had to teach himself. "When I was a child, I often drew on the ground or on paperfor hours. No one taught me any painting techniques. Different kinds of art books became my teachers," he said.

　　But Yu showed himself to be a promising art- ist when he was still young. In 1958, his work was displayed in an exhibition for the first time, at the Shanghai Art Museum. He was only 17.

　　Encouraged by his first success, he indulged himself in painting over the following years. His favourite painter was Claude Monet. He found copies of Monet's paintings and studied every brush stroke."In those days Monet was my idol. I thought he was the greatest artist in the world. Among all impressionist works, only Monet's paintings attracted me," he recalled.

　　He imitated Monet's style in his own work for years.

　　Life as a teacher

　　After graduation from the Shanghai Education Academy, he became a teacher at the Shanghai Hui Minority School, where he was responsible for many subjects, including fine arts. His classes were loved by his students because he encouraged them to do things that were considered unorthodox~ such as building human pyramids to strengthen courage and team spirit in physical education classes.

　　In his fine arts classes he told students that a successful artist should not be restricted by only one school. He told them there were not good or bad works, there were only works with passion or without. After a half century, when Yu launched his exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum on May 11, many of his students were there. They could still remember what Yu had told them. Some of them had become artists by then.

　　Yu has been a teachers for 47 years. He also has been a carpenter, porter, boatman and mason, but his best iob was sketching portraits.

　　Art In the street

　　In the summer of 1959 he drew portraits for passersby on the road every night after his classes were over. Every portrait was sold for o.1 yuan. "My sister wanted a pair of glasses but it was too expensive for my family," he said.

　　After two months, he earned enough money and bought the glasses for his sister. "That was the first pair of glasses in my family and I was rather proud that I could buy them for my sister, Yu said.

　　Besides money, drawing portraits also helped capture the hearts of some young gids. "I remembered that there was a girl who came to see me every night. She was very shy and iust stayed by my side quietly to watch as I drew. I still remember her name," Yu said.

　　In 1968, Yu travelled to Australia for the first time and was attracted by it.

　　"My first impression of Australia was so good that when I chose a country to migrate to, I selected it without hesitation," he said.

　　In 1979 he went to Hong Kong to find a job. At first he tried to support his family by painting, but failed. He tried many jobs and finally became a salesman. In 1983 Yu founded a trading company of his own -- Monte Cristo Trading Company. He took the name of/~lexandre Dumas' novel because he loved the story -- whose hero possesses persistence, which Yu believes in.

　　As his company became successful, he became the director of the Australia Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce.

　　Even though he missed it, he gave up painting. "It was very painful but I had to give it up to support my family," he said. But art still appealed to him.

　　In 1981 he founded the Monte Cristo Arts Gallery to hold painting exhibitions.

　　"I think whatever I am, I always benefit from what I learnt in the arts," Yu said. "Art revealed to me how to be an honest man. When I was a businessman in those years, I reminded myself from time to time that I should be an honest man."

　　He thinks that is the most important quality the arts reveal to people. "l~verybody who really loves art will understand the importance of honesty," he said.

　　At the beginning of 2ooo, after 2o years, Yu started to paint again. He travelled to l~ur6pe and studied the classical paintings. Thirty years ago he was greatly influenced by Impressionism but during his travels he developed an appreciation for the classical style.

　　He began to apply classical elements to his paintings — combined with impressionism— and invented some techniques of his own, such as thin fogging and direct colouring. Driven by his passion,he spends more than 12 hours a day on his work.

　　"Everyday I get up at 4 am and start to paint.I never feel tired when I'm working. Every time I travelled to a new city, I discovered its characteristics and then tried to reveal them in my work."

　　Yu still travels around the world to learn new ideas. "I'm just showing people what a beautiful world looks like -- and in my own way," he said.