When he was nearly 20 years old， he traveled to Greece. OnCrete， in the HertsReese Museum， he saw pottery jars， chops， and wallpaintings for the first time. He was completely into the paintings andpatterns on them， he says： “Really， I did not drink any alcohol， but forthree days I was in a state of drunkenness. One day， about 20 years later， Francois suddenly had the impulseto try painting on a large canvas. When the first sets of canvas wereready， he decided to go to Madrid. That was the first time he had beenthere. In the Museo Nacional Del Prado， he saw the Flemish artistBosch’s works， they were exaggerated and weird. They immediatelyattracted his attention. At the same time， he also indulges in Goya’
s world. From Goya’s painting in the Ermita de San Antonio de LaFlorida， he sensed the Chinese style， although the content of the paint18ing was typically Western.
The journey to Spain made Francois a real painter. A door hadopened for him， and it connected the West to the East.
Twenty years later， in 2007， one of the collections from the PradoMuseum — “From Tiziano to Goya” — came to Beijing. Standing onthe foreign land， facing his early piece， Francois again felt the happinessof painting. His feeling led his spirit. In the China National Museumof Fine Arts， Francois saw the masterpieces once again， and tearsburst from his eyes. He really hopes that the Chinese people can alsofind such happiness， which can only be found in the most classical art.
Chinese Art： Calm and HarmoniousWhy does he love Chinese art so much? When asked， Francoislooked like an innocent child and answered： “I don’t know. In 1983， he started to learn the Book of Changes; in 1984， hestarted reading Words of Monk Bitter Melon （the work of painter ShiTao， who lived in the 1600s at the end of the Ming Dynasty and earlyQing Dynasty）。 When he started to touch Chinese culture， first he readChinese ancient masterpieces; that was 25 years ago.
Everything comes from the simplest drawn line. He understandsShi Tao’s words deeply， that freedom and spirit are hard to find inWestern culture.
In 1994， Francois first came to China. For the first time， Easternculture pulled aside her veil in front of this Western painter. Francoisrealized that the Chinese people are really different from Westerners，for example， the Chinese people like to ask questions， while the Westernersfocus more on answers. In Qu Yuan’s Heaven Asks， he threw170 heavy questions at readers. The Westerners worked harder on answeringquestions. For example， in the Bible， laws are set down abouthow people should behave.
His lifestyle is almost exactly that of an authentic Chinese person：he eats Chinese food， drinks Chinese tea， has Chinese friends，discusses Chinese historical figures and practices Taiji. “Chinese aes thetics give me a kind of confidence. “I like Ba Da and Xu Wei，” this slender Frenchman said， wordby word. He likes the simple feeling they convey， he feels the eternalin an instant. Truly， in Francois works， you can see Ba Da Shan Ren’
s style; only this Ba Da Shan Ren is wearing a Western suit and possessesFrench elegance.
When asked the difference between the Chinese brush and the oilpainting brush， Francois said directly： one is soft， the other is hard. Helooks for brushes all over Beijing， from Panjiayuan to Liulichang to aneight-square-meter shop next to Guozijian.
Chinese painting uses rice paper， and paintings are made veryquickly. The painters have to compose their works first in their mind，because there is no way to make corrections after you finish painting.
Chinese painting also saves a lot of room， only a few strokes can collectall kinds of elements and bring them together. Francois believesthat Chinese painting provides him with a kind of spiritual freedom，and he said： “Chinese art is hailed as the acme of perfection. It displaysso much imagination， and satisfies people’s pursuit of wisdom，tranquil and harmony. At the end of 1989， Francois met Chinese anthropologist Yuhuo. Later this anthropologist from Beijing Normal University becamehis wife. In the past， in Paris， when Yu Shuo saw Francois’
s paintings for the first time， her first impression was that they werebeautiful， a kind of beauty filled with wildness and mystery. It was justlike the feeling she had when she saw Spanish or Gypsy girls.
After they were married， Yu Shuo found out that Francois performsa “Holly Ceremony” every morning. One morning， when hefinished washing， he suddenly told his wife， using the Chinese wordshe just learned： “I am going to find my head.” His wife immediatelyunderstood that he was going out for some fresh air.
Waking up headless and gradually finding his head again hasbecome Francois’s Holly Ceremony. Francois’s ceremony has threeparts： drinking a cup of coffee， reading three poems， and painting threeink paintings. Before he’s finished this， nothing his wife says to himactually enters his brain.
When Francois accompanied his wife to Alps to do anthropologicalresearch， he discovered a mysterious valley with more than100，000 rock paintings. Every day he walked on small paths in themountain and found the quietness that can only be found in his studio.
Francois suddenly realized that people actually did not know anythingabout the creation of nature.
“The Westerners don’t paint mountains， but oceans.” Francoissaid， because in the eyes of Western painters “The still mountains cannotshow one’s painting skills， but flowing water can. Maybe it is the habit of Chinese painters to love painting mountains.
Francois said that he would rather leave the oceans to the philosophersand go to observe the mountains. According to him， a traditionneeds to be maintained and transferred， but to his surprise， nowadays，painters all love to live in big cities， and don’t choose to stay in themountains.
