Hong Fu was born in China in 1946 and held his first solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Beijing, in 1988. Trained at the Institute of Arts and Design, Beijing, he worked in design and editorial roles for Chinese television networks before emigrating to Australia in 1990. He has held a total of sixty solo exhibitions since – here, and in Asia and in Europe – including at the Tian Jin Museum, China (2009); the School of Arts Gallery, Newcastle (2009); Montsalvat Art Centre, Victoria (2005 and 2012) and the Kaohsiung Museum, Taiwan (1993). A sought after portraitist, Hong Fu won the Shirley Hannan Portrait Award in 2002 and has been in the running for the Archibald Prize on four occasions with his paintings of Joseph Brown (2008), Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (2009), Professor Mabel Lee (2021) and Peter Wegner (2022). In addition his portraits have been Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Dobell Prize for Drawing and Black Swan Prize finalists. Hong Fu has undertaken portrait commissions for institutions including the University of Newcastle, Central Queensland University and the Supreme Court of Victoria and his work is held in public, private and corporate collections in China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium, the UK and Australia.
