artist renowned for creative development of both Chinese and Western painting techniques

artist renowned for creative development of both Chinese and Western painting techniques

Xu Beihong (July 19, 1895 - September 26, 1953), Han nationality, formerly known as Xu Shoukang, was born in Qiting Town, Yixing County, Jiangsu Province. He is a modern Chinese painter and art educator. In 1917, Xu Beihong was appointed as a tutor of Peking University Painting Research Association, and the highest institution of higher learning successively achieved Xu Beihong, a master of painting, Shen Yinmo and Li Zhimin, two masters of Peking University calligraphy history. He studied western painting in France. After returning to China, he has been engaged in art education for a long time. He has successively taught in the Art Department of National Central University, the Art College of Peking University and the Art College of Peking University. After 1949, he became president of the Central Academy of fine arts. He was good at figures, animals, flowers and birds, advocated realism, especially respected Ren Bonian in the tradition, emphasized the integration of Western painting techniques into the reform of traditional Chinese painting, advocated light and modeling, emphasized the accurate grasp of the anatomical structure and skeleton of the object, and emphasized the ideological connotation of the works, which had a great influence on the Chinese painting world at that time. Zhang Shuqi and Liu Zigu were known as the "three heroes of Jinling". His traditional Chinese painting is well-known for its color and ink, especially for its galloping horse.

Xu Beihong is honored as the founder of modern Chinese art education. He advocated the development of the improvement of "traditional Chinese painting". Based on Modern Chinese realistic art, he put forward the theory of improvement of Chinese painting under the background of decadence of modern Chinese painting.

On September 26, 1953, Xu Beihong died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 58. According to Xu Beihong's will, his wife, Ms. Liao Jingwen, donated more than 1200 of his works, more than 1200 of his works of famous calligraphers and painters in Tang, song, yuan, Ming, Qing and modern times, and more than 10000 of his books, picture albums and inscriptions to the state.

Life of the characters

Learning painting since childhood

Xu Beihong was born in a poor family. He studied poetry, calligraphy and painting with his father Xu Dazhang when he was young (he read four books and five classics with his father when he was 6 years old, and later studied painting). Xu Beihong, who was born in a civilian family in qitingqiao Town, was originally named Shoukang, but later changed his name to "Beihong". His father, Xu Dazhang, was a private school teacher. He was good at poetry, calligraphy and painting. He often painted at the invitation of villagers and made small profits to make up for his family. Lu's mother is a simple working woman. Xu Beihong began to learn painting from his father at the age of 9. After lunch every day, he copied a painting by Wu youru, a famous painter in the late Qing Dynasty, and learned painting skills such as color matching and coloring. Some of the pictures of "Shoufeng couplet" and "Xiangtai couplet" can be written for the people when they are 10 years old.

Travel abroad

At the age of 13, he lived in villages and towns with his father, selling paintings for a living and helping his family. Although the days of leaving home were hard, they enriched Xu Beihong's experience and broadened his artistic vision. At the age of 17, Xu Beihong went to Shanghai, the most developed commercial city at that time, to sell paintings for a living, and wanted to take the opportunity to learn western painting. However, a few months later, because her father was seriously ill, she had to go back to her hometown. He studied in Shanghai Art College, the predecessor of Nanjing Art College.

Establish ideas

At the age of 20, he came to Shanghai again. With the help of his friends, he was admitted to the French Catholic church sponsored Sinian University (now the French Department of Fudan University in Shanghai), which laid a certain french foundation for his future study in France. During this period, I got to know the famous oil painter Zhou Xiang and the representatives of Lingnan Painting School Gao Qifeng and Gao Jianfu. They got their praise and guidance in their paintings and enhanced their confidence in painting creation. He also met Kang Youwei, the leader of the reformists, and established his own creative ideas under his influence. Under the influence of Kang's artistic concept of "disdaining the four kings and advocating the song method", he belittled the "four kings" who only paid attention to pen and ink but did not seek new ideas. He believed that only the realistic paintings of Wu Daozi, Yan Liben and Li sixun in Tang Dynasty, Huang Xun in Five Dynasties, Li Cheng and fan Kuan in Northern Song Dynasty had profound subtlety. With Kang Youwei's support, he observed the ancient development of various famous steles, and painstakingly copied jingshiyu, Cuan Longyan stele, Zhang Menglong stele, Shimen Ming, etc., which won the true essence of Beibei stele and promoted calligraphy. In Japan, Xu Beihong visited a large number of rare works collected by the public and the private. He deeply felt that Japanese painters were able to concentrate on creation, realistic and realistic in creation, but they lacked the charm of Chinese literati painting.

After returning from Japan, Xu Beihong was employed as a tutor of the painting Research Association of Peking University. During his stay in Beijing, he met Cai Yuanpei, Chen Shizeng, Mei Lanfang, Lu Xun and other celebrities from all walks of life. He was deeply influenced by the trend of thought of the new culture movement and established the idea of democracy and science.

While studying abroad

In 1919, he went to France to study oil painting and sketch at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris, and traveled to Western European countries to observe and study western fine arts. Supported by the Beiyang government, 24-year-old Xu Beihong went to France to study painting. At the beginning of his arrival in Europe, he visited the British Museum, the National Gallery, the exhibition of the Royal Academy and the luff Palace Museum in France, and witnessed a large number of outstanding works since the Renaissance. Xu Beihong felt that his traditional Chinese paintings in the past were "not refined in body but lost in hand, unable to move the rope, like a horse without rein, which is hard to control." As a result, he assiduously studied painting, and was admitted to the Paris School of fine arts. He was taught by Mr. flamenger and began to receive formal western painting education. Flamenger is good at figure painting with historical themes. His paintings pay attention to the harmonious collocation and mutual contrast of colors instead of depicting details, which has a great influence on the formation of Xu Beihong's oil painting style in the future.

Every day, Xu Beihong enjoys training in the basic skills of Western painting. In the morning, he studies at the fine arts school in Paris, in the afternoon, he goes to the Institute of syrion to draw models, and sometimes he finds time to watch various exhibitions. During this period, he was fortunate to meet the famous painter Koro's disciple, art master Dayan, and arrived at the studio every Sunday with his paintings for advice. Dayan's "don't admire fashion, don't be willing to be young" and his artistic thought of paying attention to silent painting had a great influence on him. Instead of following the increasingly prosperous modernist painting style in France at that time, he studied the academic art since the Renaissance in Europe steadfastly. While inheriting the rigorous modeling characteristics of classical art, he mastered skilled painting skills. After studying abroad for four years, Xu Beihong's painting level has reached a level comparable to that of European artists of the same period. Her oil painting "old woman" was selected into the French National Art Exhibition (Salon).

Due to the interruption of tuition fees by the Beiyang government, Xu Beihong was forced to switch to Berlin, Germany, where the consumption level was lower. There, Xu Beihong still did not miss every opportunity to learn. He consulted with the painter CommScope, went to the museum to copy the paintings of the famous painter Rembrandt, and often went to the zoo to paint lions, tigers, horses and other animals, so as to improve his sketching ability. When Xu Beihong regained the funds for studying abroad, he immediately returned to France from Germany to continue studying. With the regular and systematic training of famous teachers and his tireless efforts, he has gradually improved his painting level and created a series of excellent sketches and oil paintings with the theme of portrait, human body and landscape, such as the portrait of a cat, the old man with a stick and the self portrait.

In the final stage of her stay in Europe, Xu Beihong also visited Brussels, the capital of Belgium, Milan, Florence, Rome and Switzerland in Italy. He was intoxicated by the beautiful exotic scenery and benefited a lot from the excellent works of European painting masters. His eight year career in Europe has shaped his aesthetic interest, creative ideas and artistic style.

Technology and finance return to China

At the age of 32, Xu Beihong returned to China and began to devote himself to art education in China. He participated in the "Nanguo society" organized by Tian Han and Ouyang Yuqian, and actively advocated the "Nanguo spirit" of "seeking truth before seeking beauty and goodness". He has successively created large-scale paintings based on history or ancient fables. These paintings borrow from the past to describe the present, from which the viewer can strongly feel the painter's sincere love for the motherland and the people. In 1931, when the Japanese invasion of China intensified and the nation was in danger, Xu Beihong created the traditional Chinese painting "jiufanggao", which hoped the country would pay attention to and recruit talents; in 1933, he created the oil painting "after me", which expressed the suffering people's longing for a virtuous King; in 1939, he created the portrait of Miss Jennie, which was one of Xu Beihong's most famous oil painting portraits, which was made to support the domestic anti Japanese War; in 1940, it was completed The traditional Chinese painting Yugong Yishan praises the Chinese people's perseverance and indomitable will to win the final victory of the Anti Japanese war. In addition, he also created realistic themes such as Ba Ren Ji Shui, Ba Zhi Qian Fu, spring rain on Lijiang River, Tian Hui Shan, and a large number of portraits and animals. After the founding of the people's Republic of China in 1949, Xu Beihong, as an administrative and administrative worker, continued to write and create works, and enthusiastically described the new people, new things and new features in the construction of the people's Republic of China. He made portraits of fighting heroes, went to Shandong daoshu Zhengyi water conservancy project site to experience life, made portraits of model workers and migrant workers, and collected bit by bit materials reflecting the construction of new China. Unfortunately, all these artistic activities stopped abruptly because of the premature death of the painter.

Chronology of people

Xu Beihong was born in Qiting Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province on July 19, 1895.

In 1902, he began to write and study books. He scribbled every day with great interest.

In 1904, he had finished reading such books as Shi, Shu, Yi, Li and Zuo's biography. He began to learn painting skills such as color matching and color setting.

His father died in 1914. In order to support his family, he returned to his hometown and began to work as a picture teacher in Pengcheng middle school. At the same time, he taught pictures in Shiqi girls' school and Yixing girls' school.

He went to Tokyo to study in 1917

Chinese PinYin : Xu Bei Hong