Shao Fan

Shao Fan was born in 1964 in Beijing to a family of artists; both of his parents were professors at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and he learned to paint under their guidance from an early age. He went on to study wood carving and porcelain making in Beijing; the specific institution, degree, and graduation year are not documented in primary sources, and a claim sometimes attached to his biography, enrollment at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts in 1957, in fact describes his father's education, not his own.

His practice spans ink painting on rice paper, sculpture, furniture design, and architecture and garden design. In 1995 he began his best known body of work, a series of Chairs that take apart and reassemble Ming dynasty furniture into hybrid modern forms. In 2008 he won the Gold Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London for his garden design "I Dream I Seek my Garden." He has lived and worked in Beijing throughout his career and continues to do so.

Shao Fan has been the subject of sustained curatorial and press attention in China and, increasingly, in Europe. The South China Morning Post profiled him as a "lauded Chinese ink artist," noting that he moves between sculpture, furniture making, and interior design, and that he developed his ink practice largely outside formal academic training. Recent interviews in FAD Magazine and Mousse Magazine, tied to his 2026 exhibitions in London and Guangzhou, point to continued critical engagement as his work travels to new institutions and markets.

Shao Fan's auction record is Shanshui Hare, which sold for HKD 2,394,000 (about USD 304,986) at Christie's Hong Kong on 27 May 2022, a figure identified in compiled auction data as his standing world record. No higher sale has been identified through major auction databases and platforms, including Artprice, HENI, Artsy, Artnet, and Phillips, as of mid-2026. His secondary market remains comparatively thin next to his institutional profile, and White Cube's 2025 announcement of representation, followed by his first UK exhibition at Mason's Yard in 2026, is the clearest recent signal of a broadening commercial presence.

No catalogue raisonne for Shao Fan has been identified, and authentication is best pursued through his representing galleries, White Cube and Vitamin Creative Space, or through the auction houses that have sold his work. His market spans several distinct bodies of work, furniture sculpture, ink paintings, and hare and rabbit portraits, so pricing and demand can vary meaningfully by category and medium rather than tracking a single line. His auction history is comparatively limited in volume, and his recent signing with White Cube is worth watching as a potential inflection point for broader market visibility outside Asia.