International contemporary art platform19.09.1877–03.09.1950
Zhang Renjie
Zhang Renjie (Chang Jen-Chieh) was a Chinese businessman, politician, and art figure born on September 19, 1877. Educated in France, he became an early Chinese anarchist and later a successful entrepreneur and supporter of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. He died in 1950 in New York.
Biography
Zhang Renjie (Chang Jen-Chieh) was born on September 19, 1877, in Nanshun. He was a businessman, politician, and art figure associated with the Qing Empire, the Republic of China, and the Republic of China (Taiwan). In the early 20th century, Zhang studied and worked in France, where under the influence of his friends Li Shizeng and Wu Zhihui, he became one of the first Chinese anarchists. Later, he became a successful entrepreneur, making a fortune by trading Chinese artworks in the West and investing on the Shanghai stock exchange. Zhang provided financial support to Sun Yat-sen and was one of the earliest patrons of Chiang Kai-shek. In the 1920s, along with Li Shizeng, Wu Zhihui, and educator Cai Yuanpei, he was counted among the "Four Elders" of the Chinese Nationalist Party, opposing communism. Zhang Renjie died on September 3, 1950, in New York.
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