Artist Fan Zeng's age-gap love stirs $1b legacy feud

Chinese painting master Fan Zeng recently announced that he and his new wife Xu Meng, 50 years his junior, had welcomed a son. He issued a statement declaring that all public and private affairs would be handled by Xu Meng, while severing ties with his daughter Fan Xiaohui and stepson Fan Zhongda, according to East Week magazine, a sister publication of The Standard.

The 87-year-old painter appointed Xu Meng to lead both the company  "Shi Yi Fan Zeng (Beijing) Wen Hua Yi Shu"  –  established under his own courtesy name "Shi Yi"  –  and the "Beijing Shi Yi Wen Hua Yi Shu" foundation.

Fan Xiaohui has repeatedly clashed with her younger stepmother over inheritance disputes, with estimates suggesting the fortune involved exceeds HK$1 billion.

Fan Zeng has had four marriages. In his early years, he married Lin Xiu, a university schoolmate, but the marriage lasted only five years. His second wife, Bian Baohua, bore him a daughter, Fan Xiaohui. His third wife, Zhang Guiyun, married into the family in 1993 with two sons, renamed Fan Zhongda and Fan Yifu. Zhang Guiyun passed away in 2021.

In April 2024, Fan Zeng announced his marriage to Xu Meng, former host of China's "Qi Che Feng Yun" radio program. The artist praised Xu Meng in his calligraphy: "her meticulous care has led to my complete physical and mental recovery." He called the age-gap romance "a beautiful tale in the art world."

Tensions within the Fan family emerged in mid-August this year. Fan Xiaohui issued a Weibo statement accusing Xu Meng of taking her father away in July under the pretext of  "accompanying him for medical treatment," after which he went missing. She also claimed that her father's art collection, worth billions and accumulated over many years, had been transferred in batches.

Fan Zeng disclosed that the couple had moved out of their Beijing "Bi Shui" manor house, where they had resided for over two decades. The manor house, valued at over hundreds of millions in Hong Kong dollars, was originally his marital home with his third wife. It was gifted to Fan Zhongda after Fan Zeng moved out, sparking dissatisfaction from Fan Xiaohui.

Fan Zeng has achieved success in China's contemporary art scene. Born in Nantong city in the province of Jiangsu in 1938, he is celebrated as  "one of the 10 greatest painters of modern China." His 1997 work, Ba Xian Tu Jing Xin (Eight Immortals), sold for over HK$70 million at a 2011 Beijing auction. His other work Zhu Que Tu (Bamboo and Bird) sold for HK$40.55 million at the 2011 Hong Kong autumn auction, boosting his estimated net worth to over HK$1 billion.

In the latest "Hu Run" China art list, Fan Zeng ranked third nationally with over HK$130 million in auction sales last year. His cumulative donations of calligraphy and paintings are valued at nearly HK$7 billion.