Fang Jiekan

CHINA, Zhejiang, Wenzhou

A calligrapher and seal engraving artist from Yongjia, Wenzhou, Fang Jiekan was originally known as Wenju. He served as a professor at the Shanghai Fine Arts School and China Academy of Art, as well as vice president of the Xiling Seal Arts Society. He was also the director of Wenzhou Museum in Zhejiang.
Particularly skilled in seal engraving, Fang initially learned the Zhejiang school methods, and later modeled his works after Han and ancient imperial seals. He developed a style of his own that was elegant and orderly. One of Fang’s most notable works is a series of seals illustrating the Heart Sutra. In addition, he authored several written works that include Identification of Falsified Ancient Seals, Essay on Seals by Jiekan, and Select Seal Works of Fang Jiekan.
He organized a joint art exhibition with Chang Dai-Chien in Beijing in 1937, which featured works of seal engraving, calligraphy, and painting by both artists. The majority of the seals used by Chang were made by Fang, among them, a red-character square seal, Daqian Jushi, is currently kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Over the course of his life, Fang is known to have created over 20,000 pieces of seal art.