A scholar in his own right, Fan was a prominent artist who excelled in the four art forms of poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal carving. While flower-and-bird paintings in the daxieyi or highly expressive, spontaneous style using Chinese ink was his forte, he was also adept at portraying landscapes and human figures. In his early years, he painted in a refreshing and elegant style, as represented in works like Scholar and Palm Tree (1956) and Rustic Kampong Scene (1964). As he approached his twilight years, decades of experience and gradual transformation culminated in a unique style bestowed with a poignant sense of robust vitality and rustic charm. Examples include: Vine and Stone (1970), which dazzles with classical skillful brush work and simple, elegant colours; Bamboo and Stone (1978), a delightful portrayal of slender bamboo stalks swaying in the wind; Orchid and Stone and Flowers of the Four Seasons, both long scrolls completed in 1981, are rare gems that capture the imagination with the artist’s bold, vigorous strokes and sublime ink play, enabling one to visualize the majestic magnitude of the sets of works in full (they were exhibited only in part); Landscape Scene (1981) exemplifies the artist’s deft mastery of outlining contours and cun or textural brushwork in his holistic rendition of the mountains, rivers and trees, employing a kaleidoscopic range of brushstrokes as well as ink tones; White Lotus (1985), a highly spontaneous composition using minimal brushstrokes, stands out as a distinctive expression that evokes an ethereal, serene feel; and lastly, the three paintings on mynahs he completed in 1987 when he was taken ill perfectly demonstrates the concept of ‘image’ in art with his carefree strokes imbued with a rustic aesthetic sense (see page 299).