Gu Pan (1940) was born in Sheyang, Jiangsu Province. After graduation from the middle school attached to the Shanghai branch of the Central Art Academy, he entered the Oil Painting Department of the Zhejiang Art Academy in 1962. He now is a senior member of the general editorial department of the Zhejiang People's Fine Arts Publishing House (浙江人民美术出版社, Zhejiang renmin meishu chubanshe).

Gu's specialties are oil painting and water colors. He is particularly known for his portraits of Lu Xun. He has collaborated with Pan Honghai on a number of posters. In 1973, he designed the two-sheet poster 'The Internationale reverberates all over the world' (first sheet, second sheet) with Pan Honghai, Qian Guisun and Xiao Zhengzhong.