T’ang Haywen
Introduction
T’ang Haywen was a Chinese-born French artist who became known for his small-format paintings, which are composed of a few fluid brushstrokes in Chinese ink on paper. He was born in Xiamen, China in 1927, but following the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, he spent his childhood growing up in Saigon, Vietnam. He left for Paris in 1947 with the intention of studying medicine but upon arrival, immersed himself in Parisian culture visiting museums and important landmarks. Over the course of his life, he travelled extensively throughout Europe and the United States, never returning to Asia. Along the way, he held various exhibitions in North America and Europe. He passed away in 1991.
In 1998, Alisan Fine Arts was the first gallery to hold a solo-selling exhibition of T’ang Haywen’s paintings in Hong Kong and since then has included his work in four group exhibitions. Notably, as part of Le French May 2005, his artworks, along with Gao Xingjian and Jean Degottex were displayed at the University Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Hong Kong in an exhibition curated by Alice King.
T’ang has been widely exhibited, important shows include a travelling retrospective in 1996-1997, which visited the Oceanography Museum of Monaco, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Singapore Museum of Art, Museum of East Asian Art in Germany and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. In 2002, two solo exhibitions of his works were held at the Musée Guimet and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chambery, France. In 1999-2000, his works were included in a joint exhibition with artists Zhang Daqian and Zao Wou-ki at the Musée de Pontoise in France. His works have been collected by the National Museum of Modern Art, Paris; Musée Cernuschi, Paris; Musée Guimet, Paris; Musée de Pontoise, France; Museum of Contemporary Art, Nice, France; Menil Foundation, Houston; Art Institute of Chicago; M+, Hong Kong.
BIOGRAPHY
1927 Born in Xiamen, Fujian, China
1937 Left for Vietnam with his family at the outbreak of Sino- Japanese War
1948 Went to Paris to study medicine but enrolled in L’École des Beaux Arts
1955 Held the first exhibition at Galerie Voyelles, Paris, France
1991 Died in Paris
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
- T'ang Haywen: A Chinese Painter in Paris, Guimet Museum, Paris, France
2019
- T'ang Boogie, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong
- Solo Exhibition, De Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong
- Galerie Encre de Chine, Paris, France
- Paths of Ink, Retrospective Exhibition, Musée Guimet, Paris, France
- Presence de T’ang, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chambery, France
- Paths of Ink, Retrospective Exhibition, Shiseido Gallery, Japan
- The Tao of Painting, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Travelling Retrospective, Oceanography Museum of Monaco; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Singapore Museum of Art; Museumfur Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, Germany;Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
- Cultural Centre, Boffrop-Oberhausen, Germany
- Burgerzentrum, Chateau de Borbeck, Essen, Germany
- Musée des Beaux Arts de Vitre, Château de Vitré, France
- Musée des Beaux Arts de Vannes, France
- Art in Academy, National Academy of Science, Washington, USA
- Musée des Beaux Arts de Brive, France
- Musée des Beaux Arts de Quimper, France
- Musée des Ponchettes, Nice, France
- Musee Savoisien, Chambery, France
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
- Ellingham Mill Art Society, Norfolk Museum, UK
- Musée de l’Abbaye Saint Croix des Sables d’Olonne, France
- Centre Cultural Midsommagarden, Stockholm, Sweden
- International Art Center, Detroit, USA
- Galerie Welter, Paris, France
- Galerie Galaxie, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Galerie Creuse, Paris, France
- Alaska Methodist University, Anchorage, AL, USA
- Musée des Oudaias, Rabat, Morocco
- Fine Arts School, Casablanca, Morocco
- Montreal Museum, Montreal, Canada
- Galerie Bradtke, Luxembourg
- Galerie Belles Images, Rabat, Morocco
- Galerie Belvedere, Hergiswill am See, Lucerne, Switzerland
- Galerie Voyelles, Paris, France
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021-2022
-
Individuals, Networks, Expressions, South Galleries, M+, Hong Kong
2021
- Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
2016
2014- Breeze from Paris Group Exhibition, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2005
2004
- French Diaspora, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Galerie Encre de Chine, Paris, France
- Maitres de l’Encre: Chang Dai-Chien, T’ang Haywen, Zao Wou-ki, Musée de Pontoise, Pontoise, France
- Empire of the Dragons, Aarhus Kuntsmuseum, Denmark
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Musée National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, Paris, France
Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, France
Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France
Musée de Pontoise, Paris, France
Musée de l’Abbaye de Ste Croix des Sables d’Olonne, France
Musée des Beaux Arts de Quimper, France
Musée des Beaux Arts de Vitré, France
Musée de Brive, France
Museum of Contemporary Art, Nice, France
Fonds de la Direction des Musées de la Ville de Nice, France
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Menil Fondation, Houston, USA
M+, Hong Kong
