Xie-Jing-Lan (born in 1921) is better known as Lalan. Her work stands between two cultures; Chinese by birth, she lived in France for almost fifty years and was nationalised French, and yet she never renounced her past. In its intricate dialogue between tradition and invention, East and West, her art constantly recalls and exults in this cultural duality.

In addition to being bi-cultural, she was talented not only as a painter, but also a composer, dancer, choreographer, poet, and a modern Chinese scholar - skills that are strongly reflected in her paintings.

Perhaps the finest introduction to Lalan is a quote made over forty years ago by Eugene Ionesco: "It is very rare to witness the existence of an original voice and path, it is very rare to be innovative in non-figurative painting, to find the forceful, discreet yet evident originality that Lalan possesses. There can be nothing new, one is tempted to think, in one domain or another: then all of a sudden here is something new, here is the unexpected, here is a painter, here is Lalan.”