Lalan (artist)

Lalan, born Xie Jing-lan (Chinese: 謝景蘭; 1921–1995), was a Chinese-French multidisciplinary artist. Lalan was among the early practitioners of integrated arts, incorporating painting, music, dance, and poetry into her performances. Lalan was born in Guizhou, China. She received professional vocal training at the Shanghai Music Academy, and then studied composition and modern dance after relocating to Paris in 1948 with her then husband, painter Zao Wou-ki. Lalan did not start painting until the age of 37. She began her independent artistic career in painting, composing electronic music and choreography in modern dance. In 1975, she received the Chevalier medal for the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Ministry of Culture. Lalan spent majority of her time in France with her husband French artist Marcel Van Thienen. She died in a car accident in 1995. Xie Jinglan, nickname Lan-lan, who later changed her name to Lalan, was born on September 14, 1921, in Guiyang, Guizhou Provence, China. Grew up in a scholarly family under the influence of the New Culture Movement, Lalan received Western education in Hongdao Girls' Middle School, an American missionary school in Hang Zhou. At a young age, Lalan had a gift for music and dance and was able to cultivate her talent thanks to her father Xie Meigen, who was a great flute musician and a scholar. In 1935, Lalan was introduced to Zao Wou-Ki, who was studied at the Hangzhou School of Art. In 1941, they got married in Hong Kong. The following year their son Zhao Jialing was born. At the time, the headmaster of Hangzhou School of art was artist Lin Fengmian, who studied in France before coming back to China to teach. Lalan and Zao Wou-ki were motivated by their teachers. In 1948, after 36 days of travelling, Lalan and Zao arrived in France and settled down on Rue du Moulin-Vert District 14 Paris, and became neighbours of the sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Lalan later entered the Conservatoire de Paris and studied composition under Darius Mihaud.