CHANG YU (SAN YU, 1901-1966)

Born in Sichuan, Sanyu studied art in Shanghai and then in Japan, where he first learned oil painting. In 1921 he was part of the first wave of students to go to Paris. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, he elected to remain in France and, from 1925, Sanyu exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons and in local galleries.   He returned briefly to China before the Second World War and also lived in New York for a couple of years, working as an entrepreneur.   He died alone in Paris in 1966.

Since then, the Taipei National History Museum has held several exhibitions of his work.  The Musee Guimet in Paris will hold the first retrospective French exhibition in June 2004.