Internationally acclaimed painter, film director and fashion magnate Chen Yifei died of a gastric haemorrhage early yesterday at a Shanghai hospital. He was 59.
Chen was taken to Shanghai Huashan Hospital last Wednesday from the set of his latest film, Barber, in Zhejiang province complaining of stomach pains, Xinhua reported.
Arguably the most successful contemporary Chinese painter, Chen's signature portraits of enigmatic Chinese beauties and nostalgic depiction of pre-war Shanghai fetch up to US$300,000 apiece and hang in museums and galleries from Beijing to Paris.
His 1994 work Wind of the Mountain Village, which showed Tibetans bundled in heavy fur coats against the Himalayan cold and sold for US$344,000 at a Shanghai auction in 1997, is believed to be the highest price paid at auction for a modern Chinese painting.
Chen is also the only Asian painter to be represented at Britain's exclusive Marlborough Fine Art Gallery.
Canvas was only one avenue for his talents. He funnelled most of the proceeds from selling his artworks to business ventures including film production and fashion design. His pre-war Shanghai-themed movie Evening Liaison was featured at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 and a documentary on the lives of Jewish refugees in Shanghai before 1949 was critically acclaimed.