Pan He was born in Guangdong Province, in 1925.  That is significant for several reasons.  First, Guangdong (Canton), which includes both Hong Kong and Macau, and  is in the south of China, bordered by the sea, has always been a main entry point of outside influence to China, and has always been avant-garde, in many ways.  In fact, Sun Yat Sen, the leader of China’s first revolution, that against the emperor, was Cantonese.  Thus, Pan was born in a free-thinking province when China was open and democratic.  Moreover, he was born to well-off parents: his father was a lawyer, his mother had a college education, and the family was fairly wealthy.

As a boy, Pan He was interested in art, and he painted.  We painted watercolor scenes from the family’s visits to Europe, and his heroes, growing up, were Rodin and Michelangelo (he says Michelangelo is the only person he respects...smart man, choosing an Italian to idolize).  Although his mother was afraid that a career in art was not a proper way to earn a living, his father encouraged him to pursue his passion.  Indeed, his father told him when he was a teenager that, if he really wanted to become an artist, he should find a proper mentor.  Pan’s response was that the only one who could teach him anything was Michelangelo, and he’d been dead for centuries.  Eventually, he studied at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art.  Today, he is a tenured professor of art at that same institution (his sculpture: "Perfect Yourself", showing a woman carving herself from a chunk of stone, is on the front lawn of the Academy).

 Perfect Yourself

Although he enjoyed a prolific career, in art, in the democratic post-imperial China, when the regime changed with Mao and communism, most art was political or social commentary.  His work came to Mao's attention at the national art exhibition, in 1952, with his piece: When I grow Up.  The sculpture was actually chosen by the Chinese government to be sent abroad to a number of countries as representing the New China.  

When I Grow up

A few years later, Mao became a collector of Pan's with his touching piece: Hard Times.  As a result, he was asked to make a sculpture of Mao for Mao's hometown.  His concept pictured Mao, as a young man with longer hair.  When he was asked to change it, he refused.  He continued to work on his large stone statue of  Mao, which was so large, he was making it in two pieces, to be assembled when finished. However, while the sculpture was awaiting assembly, he was accused of desecrating Mao because he had him cut into two, was put in prison, and was made to kneel in broken glass, and beaten regularly.  Even then, he said he would not bow or grovel.  Recently, he was asked to make a second statue Mao: his price, a letter of apology from the Chinese government for the treatment he was forced to undergo while making the first one.  We actually have a smaller version that was made in bronze in a very limited number, in our gallery.

Tough Times

Today, he is known as the Michelangelo and the Rodin of China.  He tells us, in good humor, that he has at least bettered Rodin by living a longer life than he had.  As a little game with himself, in fact, he has made a little photo album with various work by him and Rodin on opposing pages for comparison.  While he showed me, he pointed out, winking on the side, that his were all bigger than Rodin’s.  He is really a delightful, personable and generous fellow.

He also has confidence, as he is not making art for money, but for art's sake, and he has a wry sense of humor.  On one of our visits to him, I saw a cool modern-looking sculpture with an abstract pyramid of what appeared to be arms and legs, one row supporting the next.  I asked about it, and he said that one night when he ordered a batch of frog's legs at a restaurant, he liked the way they looked.  So, he took them home, gluded them together and had them bronzed.  He also said that he thought of submitting it as Olympic art, but he figured that if the government found out about the joke, he'd be in trouble.

For Pan He, it was also never about money: he always had money.  He made art because he likes to make art.  Unlike some artists of today who make large sculptures and donate them to the government for publicity, Pan has made many large sculptures for no pay, and he gives away smaller ones to his friends.  

His larger works include a statue of He Long, a famous general of Mao's revolution, whom Mao later had jailed for "anti-party talk". In 1985, when He Long's widow and the government were discussing a memorial statue of him, Pan was the one to finally win the commission.  He also convinced the widow to have He Long's horse diminutive, in the work.  A smaller version of that statue, which was made without the horse, is one of the pieces taht we currently have available, in the gallery.

  He Long

His artistic achievements include more than 100 large-sized statues, standing at over 60 city-squares, in cities all over the world, and more than 60 mid-sized indoor sculptures collected and displayed in national art galleries and museums.  His larger works are prominently displayed in many cities in China, including Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, as well as major cities in many other countries.  His rams sculpture is the symbol of Guangzhou.  His sculpture of a fisher girl (shown, below) is a famous site on a rock in the ocean, off Zhuhai.  His bull sculpture is the symbol of Shenzhen.  Several sculpture parks are already dedicated to his work, in Guangzhou, and the province has just broken ground for a huge sculpture park and museum site for work.  He tells us that he makes his art for the public, to be displayed where everyone can view it.  He makes few smaller versions of his art because he thinks that art, hidden away by a collector, not to be shared with others, is, somehow, wasted.  So, if you decide to buy one of his sculptures, please share it, as we do, here, at Leona Craig.

 Fisher Girl, in Zhuhai Bay

At an early age, he was already granted the title: “Young Expert with Great Achievement” by the State Council. He was awarded the “Labor Day Medal” by the National Labor Union and was also granted the title “Model man of Guangdong”.  In recently years, he was awarded the “Lifelong Achievement Art Award” by the National Department of Culture and was named “Leading Artist in the Field of Fine Arts”, in Guangdong Province. His achievements appeared in the book, “History of World Fine Art”, published by the National College of Fine Art of the former Soviet Union, and in various books on the history of Chinese fine arts. He tells us that friends clip items from the press for him to put in his scrap books, and, last year, alone, they clipped about 700 separate articles.

 Ram Sculpture: symbol of Guangzhou

Several years ago when he was ill and bed-ridden, he spent the time creating small busts of men and women, turning out fifty original pieces, in all, some of which are now, in our gallery collection.  He tells us that colleagues and friends at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art ask him why he still can be seen working in his studio into the wee hours when he doesn't have to, and he tells them that it's not work: it's fun.  He is everything that we think an artist should be.  We are pleased to be able to include some of his smaller works in our gallery collection at L. C. Yilang, in Dongshan Kou, in Guangzhou.  We have already obtained several and are in the process of acquiring more, so, please check our Leona Craig Art website pages for Pan He .

 Mao Zedong II, 2008

If you know me, you know I dislike pretentious words, like installation (I especially love when someone installs paintings in their gallery; I install starters and carburetors in cars).  Well, I think that art should be fun, so I like to have fun with art.  In that regard, and with my caveat, in mind, here is my latest "installation".  It is Cao Chong En's  sculpture of Deng Xiao Ping  who we have posed as if he is trying to listen in on the whispered conversation that Pan He's Western bust is having with two of Pan He's Chinese busts.


 
Craig Mattoli, Curator
Leona Craig Art
Guangzhou, China: 86 136 3241 0877
Website: http://www.leonacraig.com

11 Gui Gang Three Road, Dongshan Kou, Yuexiu district,  
Guangzhou, China 510080
广州市越秀区东山口龟岗三马路11号
086 020 37625069