FLOWERS AND CHICKS

W1ng Yachen studied both Western and Chinese traditional paintings in his youth and traveled to Japan and Europe as part of his education. A highly regarded teacher, Wang was delegated in 1948 by the Chinese Ministry of Education to accompany the exhibition Chinese Contemporary Paintings to New York. While in the United States, he was also charged with studying local art education methods. In New York Anna Wu (Wu Yiqiao, born 1924), a sociology graduate student at Columbia University who was teaching at China Institute, acted as his translator. The meeting proved pivotal, as Ms. Wu, who later married the noted psychotherapist John H. Weakland, changed her focus to the study of Chinese paintings and development of her own art style.

Like Anna Wu, Fang Zhaolin was a highly educated and successful woman. The student of such famous artists as Qian Songyan, Zhao Shao'ang, and Zhang Daqian, Ms. Fang's paintings melded traditional Chinese styles with contemporary themes. Although she settled in Hong Kong in the 1950s, she traveled often to the United States and Europe, where she enjoyed meeting other artists and collectors.