Xu Beihong: Difference between revisions

|birth_place = [[Yixing]], [[Jiangsu]], China

|death_place = [[Beijing]], China

'''Xu Beihong''' ({{zh|t=徐悲鴻|w=Hsü Pei-hung}}; 19 July 1895 – 26 September 1953), also known as '''Ju Péon''', was a Chinese painter.<ref name="China Daily five major works">{{Cite web |urllast=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/30/WS5a6fdfc1a3106e7dcc137936.html毕楠 |title=Five major works of Xu Beihong that shouldn't be missed - Chinadaily|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/30/WS5a6fdfc1a3106e7dcc137936.html |lastaccess-date=毕楠2019-11-20 |workwebsite=[[China Daily]]|access-date=2019-11-20}}</ref>

He was primarily known for his [[Ink wash painting|Chinese ink paintings]] of horses and birds and was one of the first Chinese artists to articulate the need for artistic expressions that reflected a 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.<ref name="sam">{{Cite journalnews |title=Singapore Art Museum (SAM) opens 'Xu Beihong in Nanyang' a Solo Exhibition |publisherurl=Arthttp://artknowledgenews.com/201009184941/xubeihonghtml.html Knowledge|url-status=dead News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628153020/http://artknowledgenews.com/201009184941/xubeihonghtml.html |archive-date=2018-06-28 |access-date=2008-06-18 |work=Art Knowledge News |publisher=Art Knowledge News}}</ref> He was one of the four pioneers of Chinese modern art who earned the title of "[[The Four Great Academy Presidents]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 March 2018 |title=(#1017) YAN WENLIANG {{!}} Winter Sunset |url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/modern-art-evening-sale-hk0782/lot.1017.html |titlewebsite=PROPERTY[[Sotheby's]] FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTION-Yan|location=Hong WenliangKong}}</ref>

Xu was born on 19 July 1895 in [[Yixing]], [[Jiangsu]], during the late [[Qing dynasty]]. He began studying classic Chinese works, andbeginning with calligraphy withat the age of six, and Chinese painting at the age of nine. He was taught by his father Xu Dazhang, who was a private school teacher.<ref name="China Daily five major works" /> at the age of six, and Chinese painting at the age of nine. BeihongXu came from rural Yixing, Jiangsu province. He started from the scratch and in the end became a well-known figure in the world due to his contributions in the art industry.<ref name="China Daily five major works" />

In 1915, he moved to [[Shanghai]], where he made a living off commercial and private work. In 1916, Xu gotwas inadmitted into [[Fudan University]] to learn French. He then travelledtraveled 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]]. Xu won a scholarship at the prestigious National High School of Art in Paris in the year 1919. He studied and travelled in Europe in more than a decade and was mainly inspired by Classic traditions of European art and culture, which helped him in incorporating improved creativity and innovation elements in his artwork.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Beginning in 1919, Xu studied overseas in [[Paris]] at the [[École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts]], where he studied [[oil painting]] and [[drawing]]. He was known as Ju Peon while studying in Paris.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chinahistoricalc0000unse/page/359 |title=China: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary |publisher=Curzon Press|year=1998 |isbn=0-7007-0439-6 |editor-last=Dillon |editor-first=Michael |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/chinahistoricalc0000unse/page/359 359]|url=https://archive.org/details/chinahistoricalc0000unse/page/359}}</ref> His painting has been showcased in various platforms and used by learner in understanding what transpired during the early period in relation to Chinese art industry.<ref name="China Daily five major works" />

His travels around Western Europe allowed him to observe and learn Western art techniques. Xu Beihong still wrote regularly for the ''Daily University of Peking University'' that dealt with wider issues then just campus politics. Xu addressed issues of Art and Art History and in 1920 a university art journal called ''Painting Miscellany'' was published.<ref name="brown">{{citeCite book |last1url=Brown|first1=edited by Rebecca Mhttps://books.|last2google.com/books?isbn=Hutton|first2=Deborah1444396323 S.|title=A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture |date=2011 |publisher=Wiley|location=Chicester |isbn=978-1444396324 |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Rebecca M. |location=Chicester |page=553 |urleditor-last2=https://books.google.com/books?isbnHutton |editor-first2=1444396323Deborah S.}}</ref>

In 1933, Xu organized an exhibition of modern Chinese painting that traveled to France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the [[Soviet Union]]. He studied and travelledtraveled in Europe in more than a decade and was mainly inspired by Classic traditions of European art and culture, which helped him in incorporating improved creativity and innovation elements in his artwork.Through Xu's art work, the western world have had an opportunity to experience and understand Chinese culture, which was found to be interesting.<ref name="China Daily five major works"/>

Xu Beihong was a master of both oils and Chinese ink. Most of his works, however, were in the Chinese traditional style. Xu beihongBeihong had a free technique of brush in his art works; he also believed that painting should be more real and should be more understood by people.<ref>{{Cite news |urllast=Kolesnikov-Jessop |first=Sonia |date=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/-04/11/arts/11iht-jessop.1.11901116.html11 |title=Xu Beihong: A Chinese master of styles that straddle East and West |lasturl=Kolesnikovhttps://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/arts/11iht-Jessop|first=Soniajessop.1.11901116.html |access-date=2008-042019-11-20 |work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-11-20 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mo, |first=A. (|year=2016). |title=Xu Beihong and the New China: thoughts centered on the painting At the World Peace Congress. ''|journal=Inter-Asia Cultural Studies'', ''|volume=17''( |issue=3), 435-455|pages=435–455 |doi=10.1080/14649373.2016.1219536 |s2cid=214652624}}</ref>

Xu enjoyed massive support from art collectors across Asia. Between 1939 and 1941, he held solo exhibitions in Singapore, India and Malaya ([[Penang]], [[Kuala Lumpur]] and [[Ipoh]]) to help raise funds for the war relief effort in China. In one war benefit exhibition in March 1939, Xu held a group exhibition with [[ink and wash painting|Chinese ink painting]] masters [[Ren Bonian]] and [[Qi Baishi]], and showcased 171 works of art at the [[Victoria Memorial Hall]].<ref>{{citeCite news |date=2008-04-05 |title=Xú Bēihóng de gùshì shuō bu wán |script-title=zh:徐悲鸿的故事说不完 ：Xu|trans-title=Xu Beihong's stories are endless |work=[[Lianhe Zaobao]] |date=2008-04-05|page=23}}</ref>

He also met [[Rabindranath Tagore]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]] during his stay in India, and received inspiration which led to the creation of iconic works such as the 4.21m-wide ''[[The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains|The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains]]'' painting on show at the [[Singapore Art Museum]] (SAM). Artworks including ''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.<ref name="sam" />

Xu developed new visual art techniques and international aesthetics, in a bid to reinvent Chinese art. In fact, Xu's influence extends beyond China in the early 20th-century. Many notable Singaporean artists including [[Chen Wen Hsi]], [[Lee Man Fong]] and [[Chen Chong Swee]] looked up to him as a mentor and a worthy peer, sharing Xu's desire to closely observe nature and inject realism into Chinese painting.<ref name="Post">{{citeCite news |last=Chow |first=Clara |date=2008-04-27 |title=A little horseplay |newspaperurl=https://www.scmp.com/article/635399/little-horseplay |work=South China Morning Post|date=2008-04-27}}</ref>

In 2008, two ceramic vases created by Xu Beihong scheduled for an art exhibition in Singapore spurred local media attention. Family disputes broke out over the vases sales and profits, which led to legal tussles between the Huang descendants and the Singapore Art Museum. The Singaporean art collectors, Huang Man Shi and Huang Meng Gui, were famously supportive of Xu Beihong. The 18-cm high vases were made in the 1940s, titled ''Malay Dancers'' and ''Orchid'' were to be shown in a Jack Bonn curated exhibition in collaboration with the Singapore Art Museum, "Xu Beihong in Nanyang", as an attribution to the late grandfather and granduncle for the periods when Xu was a guest at his grandfather's estate. These items were returned as certain family members' feud led to the eventual auction failure and cancellation. The Museum maintained they were unaware of the legal implications surrounding the artifacts. Members of the Huang family adheres to the artifacts returning to the "original owners", in 2009.<ref>{{citeCite news |last=Shetty |first=Deepika |date=2009-03-21 |title=Museum to return vases |newspaperwork=Straits Times|date=2009-03-21}}</ref>

Xu's son, Xu Boyang, signed an affidavit that a nude portrait that had been found was of his mother Jiang Biwei. The painting was then sold for approximately $11m in 2010 at Beijing Jiuge Auctions. After the sale it was claimed that the painting was not by Xu Beihong but it was a piece created in 1983 by a student at the [[Central Academy of Fine Arts]].<ref name="student">{{citeCite news |date=2011-09-19 |title=Students claim credit for $11m painting |url=http://news.cultural-china.com/20110919074846.html|access-date=3 April 2015|work=China Daily|date=2011-09-19|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407222342/http://news.cultural-china.com/20110919074846.html |archive-date=7 April 2015 |access-date=3 April 2015 |work=China Daily}}</ref>

<{{gallery>

|File:XuBeiHongMalayOrchids.jpg|'''Orchid (orched) (c. 1940)'''<br/>'''Size:''' 14&nbsp;cm<br/>'''Medium:''' Oil on [[ceramic art|ceramics]]<br/>'''Collection: '''Private collection.

|File:XuBeiHongJenny.jpg|'''Portrait of Ms Jenny (1939)'''<br/>'''Size:''' unknown<br/>'''Medium:''' Oil on canvas<br/>A Cantonese dance hostess from Singapore commissioned by the then-vice-consul of Belgium to Singapore.

|File:XuBeiHongChristina.jpg|'''Portrait Of Young Lady (1940)'''<br/>'''Size:''' 82 x 54&nbsp;cm<br/>'''Medium:''' Oil on canvas<br/>This portrait, completed in JiangXia Tang ({{lang|zh|江夏堂}}) in [[Singapore]], was of Christina Li HuiWang, who became the first wife of Asian mogul [[Loke Wan Tho]].

|File:XuBeiHongMdmCheng.jpg|'''Portrait of Madam Cheng (1941)'''<br/>'''Size:''' 79.5 x 65&nbsp;cm<br/>'''Medium:''' Oil on board<br/>Painted by Xu in [[Ipoh]], when Cheng was 92 who was the mother of Cheong Chee (1885-1954), a wealthy Chinese tin miner and philanthropist in Malaya.

|File:Liao Jingwen.jpg|'''Liao Jingwen (1943)'''<br/>'''Size:'''unknown<br/>'''Medium:''' Ink on paper<br/>Painting of [[Liao Jingwen]] finished in 1943 when Liao had just begun working for Xu at the [[China Academy of Art]].

|File:Xu beihong Painting Tianheng's five hhundredshundreds heroes.jpg|'''Dian Heng and Five hundreds heroes (1930)'''

Xu Beihong went to Japan to study arts in 1917. [[Jiang Biwei]], who was already engaged to another man, went with him to Japan without the consent of her family. Her family said that she had died to cover their embarrassment.<ref name="lee">{{citeCite book |last1title=editors-in-chief|last2=Lee|first2=LilyBiographical Xiaodictionary of Chinese women Hong|last3date=Wiles2003 |first3publisher=AM.D E. StefanowskaSharpe ; assistant|isbn=0765607980 |editor-in-chief,last=Lee Sue|titleeditor-first=BiographicalLily dictionaryXiao of Chinese womenHong |volume=2: theThe twentieth century, 1912-2000 |datelocation=2003London |publisherpage=M.254 E.|editor-last2=Stefanowska Sharpe|locationeditor-first2=LondonA.D. |isbneditor-last3=0765607980Wiles |pageeditor-first3=254Sue}}</ref> In 1927, Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei had a son and a daughter. Three years later, Xu Beihong had a love affair with his student [[Sun Duoci]].<ref name="woc">[{{Cite web |date=9 September 2014 |editor-last=Zhu |editor-first=Tracy |title=Sun Duoci: One of the First Women Artists in Oils |url=http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/people/history/17/5757-1.htm Sun Duoci|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321000238/http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/people/history/17/5757-1.htm One|archive-date=2015-03-21 of|access-date=2 theApril First Women Artists in Oils], Tracy Zhu, 9 September 2014,2015 |website=Women Of China, retrieved 2 April 2015}}</ref> The affair ended with Jiang Biwei's intervention, but the damage to their marriage was done.<ref name=woc/> This account is questioned in a biography written by Xu Beihong's later wife - [[Liao Jingwen]] states that there was no improper relationship between Xu Beihong and the student. It goes on to describe how Jiang Biwei was having an affair herself with the married official [[Zhang Daofan]]. It was Zhang who suggested Xu had been having an improper relationship in order to further drive a wedge between the couple.<ref>{{citeCite book |last=Liao |first=Jingwen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4zmsAAAAIAAJ |title=Xu Beihong : Life of a Master Painter |isbnpublisher=9780835115513|last1=Liao|first1=JingwenForeign Languages Press |year=1987 |isbn=9780835115513}}</ref> However, finally their 20-year painful relationship ended with a divorce in 1945. In 19461942, Xu Beihong marriedtook [[Liao Jingwen]], a librarian who took care of his life, andas careerhis mistress, they married in 1946 until he died in 1953. They had a son and a daughter.<ref>{{citeCite book |last=Jiǎng |first=Bìwēi web|url=http://www.tushucheng.com/book/1986028.html |title=Wǒ yǔ bēi hóng: Jiǎngbìwēi huíyìlù |date=16 February 2024 |publisher=漓江出版社 |isbn=9787540738402 |script-title=zh:"我与悲鸿" (: 蒋碧微回忆录 |trans-title=I and Beihong) |oclc=213342272 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326083302/http://www.tushucheng.com/book/1986028.html |archive-date=2009-03-26}}</ref>

[[Category:Republic20th-century of ChinaChinese painters]]

[[Category:Academic staff of the National Central University faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of Nanjing University faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of the Central Academy of Fine Arts faculty]]

[[Category:Alumni of the Académie Julian alumni]]