Xu Beihong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xu.
| Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻) | |
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| Born | July 19, 1895 Yixing, Jiangsu  China |
| Died | September 26, 1953 (aged 58) |
| Field | Oil Painting, Chinese ink painting |
Xu Beihong (traditional Chinese: 徐悲鴻; simplified Chinese: 徐悲鸿; pinyin: Xú Bēihóng) was primarily known for his shuimohua (chinese ink paintings) of horses and birds and one of the first Chinese artists to articulate the need for artistic expressions that reflected a new modern China at the beginning of the 20th century. He was also regarded as one of the first to create monumental oil paintings with epic Chinese themes - a show of his high proficiency in an essential Western art technique.[1]
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[edit] Biography
Xu began studying classic Chinese works and calligraphy with his father Xu Dazhang when he was six, and Chinese painting when he was nine. In 1915, he moved to Shanghai, where he made a living off commercial and private work. He traveled to Tokyo in 1917 to study arts. When he returned to China, he began to teach at Peking University's Arts school at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei.
Beginning in 1919, Xu studied overseas in Paris at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where he studied oil painting and drawing. His travels around Western Europe allowed him to observe and imitate Western art techniques. He came back to China in 1927 and, from 1927 to 1929, gained a number of posts at institutions in China, including teaching at National Central University (now Nanjing University) in the former capital city Nanjing.
In 1933, Xu organized an exhibition of modern Chinese painting that traveled to France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the Soviet Union. During World War II, Xu traveled to Southeast Asia, holding exhibitions in Singapore and India. All the proceeds from these exhibitions went to Chinese people who were suffering as a result of the war.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu became president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the Chinese Artists' Association. He died of a stroke in 1953.
Xu Beihong was a master of both oils and Chinese ink. Most of his works, however, were in the Chinese traditional style. In his efforts to create a new form of national art, he combined Chinese brush and ink techniques with Western perspective and methods of composition. He integrated firm and bold brush strokes with the precise delineation of form. As an art teacher, he advocated the subordination of technique to artistic conception and emphasizes the importance of the artist's experiences in life. Of all of the Painters of the modern era, it can be safely said that Xu is the one painter most responsible for the direction taken in the modern Chinese Art world. The policies enacted by Xu at the beginning of the Communist Era continue to control not only official Government Policy towards the arts, but they continue to direct the overall direction taken in the various Art Colleges and Universities throughout China.
Xu enjoyed massive support from art collectors across Asia. Between 1939 and 1941, he held solo exhibitions in in Singapore, India and Malaya (Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh) to help raise funds for the war relief effort in China. He also met luminaries such as Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi during his stay in India, and got his sources of inspiration which led to the creation of iconic works such as the 4.21m-wide The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains painting on show at SAM. Artworks like After a Poem of the Six Dynasties, Portrait of Ms Jenny and Put Down Your Whip were also created during his sojourns in Southeast Asia. SAM Director Kwok Kian Chow mentioned that Xu's name tops the list in Asian modern realism art, and his connections with various parts of Asia and Europe opened a new chapter of historical narratives, exchanges and influences of aesthetics and ideas in art.[1]
After his death in 1953, a Xu Beihong Museum was established at his home in Beijing.
[edit] Xu Beihong in Nanyang Solo Exhibition in Singapore
On 4 April 2008, the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) officially opened the exhibition in honour of the great achievements made by the artist, and for the Singapore society during his sojourns in Malaya and Singapore. This exhibition, co-organized by the Xu Beihong Museum, featured 90 works selected from both public and private collections from around the world, many of which were works completed in Southeast Asia and India and have never been exhibited publicly before.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Singapore Art Museum (SAM) opens 'Xu Beihong in Nanyang' a Solo Exhibition, Art Knowledge News, <http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Xu_Beihong.html>. Retrieved on 6 April 2008
