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29

XU BEIHONG Chinese 1895-1953 WC on Paper Scroll

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:3,500.00 USD Estimated At:8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
XU BEIHONG Chinese 1895-1953 WC on Paper Scroll
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Boy riding on buffalo; ink and watercolour on paper; hanging scroll; signed Xu Beihong (Chinese, 1895-1953), Chinese painter; inscribed with 1 artist seal; accompanied with certificate issued by Beijing Wenboyuan Cultural Relics Appraisal Center, 101 x 51 cm (39.8 x 20.1 in).

Xu Beihong (Chinese, 1895-1953) was an ink-and-wash artist best known for his images of horses, and one of the first Chinese artists to advocate for more modern forms of artistic expression at the beginning of the 20th century through the incorporation of Western techniques. Xu first learned art from his father, the locally known portrait painter Xu Dazhang. He initially worked as a traveling professional painter and art teacher, before moving to Shanghai in 1915, where he studied Western art. He also met Kang Youwei, whose arguments about the need to modernize Chinese art deeply influenced the artist early in his career. After a brief trip to Tokyo in 1917, he began teaching at Peking University's School of Art at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei. In 1919, Xu traveled to Paris to study oil painting and drawing at the ecole des Beaux-Arts. Beginning in the late 1920s, he held a number of different positions at various Chinese institutions, including the National Central University (now Nanjing University). During the 1930s, Xu organized an exhibition of modern Chinese painting that traveled to France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the former Soviet Union. After the outbreak of World War II, Xu went to Southeast Asia, holding exhibitions in Singapore and India, and helped raise money for the war effort. He became the president of Beiping Art College in 1946, and, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, was appointed president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the Chinese Artists’ Association. Xu distinguished himself for his use of Chinese brush-and-ink techniques and Western methods of composition. He combined strong, bold brushstrokes with precisely defined forms. As an educator, he advocated the importance of concept and real-life experience over technique. Xu died of a stroke at the age of 58. After his death, the Xu Beihong Museum was founded at his home in Beijing.

PROVENANCE:
Previously in the private collection of Mr. Zhen Dao Ma, (1907-1956), and thence by descent.

CATALOGUE NOTE:
1907-1956,“Ââ€Ã‚“Ââ€;;,

Mr. Zhen Dao Ma (1907-1956). He was born and raised in the city of Panyu, province of Guangdong in 1907. He enlisted in 'The Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army' when he was 18 years old. He was assigned to the "First Division of the Army" which was also known as “The County-founding Division of Guangdong.” He was then reassigned to the Thirty-First Corps. During the Northern Expedition, he was ordered to stay with the Eleventh Division and therefore, was left behind in Guangzhou. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Due to the Kuomintang, he retreated to Taiwan; soon afterward, he lived in Tiu Keng Leng (Rennie's Mill), Hong Kong for an extended period. Later, Mr. Ma moved to the Causeway Bay's Typhoon Shelter, Hong Kong, and opened a seafood boats under a partnership with his army colleagues to raise his family, where he also met Xu Beihong and began his collection of Chinese ink and watercolor paintings.

Photographs featuring 1907-1956) with Xu Beihong are available upon request. These photographs feature 1907-1956) at an exhibition of Xu's work in 1937 in Hong Kong. The photographs are from the series of exhibitions held in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Changsha while he was raising money for the war effort during the Sino-Japanese War. [Photographs are withheld at owner's request.]
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