Trained in Western painting techniques while living in France, her work is known for its combination of European and Chinese formal elements.
While studying in France, Fan became the first Chinese female student to enter the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts exhibition.
[3] Fan published books in China on her oil painting, including a 1938 volume with a foreword by Cai Yuanpei, former Chinese Minister of Education and a classical scholar.
She met Qi Baishi in 1943 and worked in close contact with him until leaving China, producing a series of solo exhibitions from 1944 to 1949.
[4] Fan's early works reflect the Impressionist style of French artists like Paul-Albert Besnard, with whom she studied in 1926.