Xu Beihong started studying with his father at the age of 6. When he went to Liyang by boat with his father at the age of 10, he had the poem "The spring water is filled with green, the spring mountains are beautiful, the sailing is good and the weather is good, and the boat passes thousands of mountains." , is famous in his hometown for his artistic talent of creating poems on the spot. After he finished reading "Four Books" and "Zuo Zhuan" at the age of 9, he began to study painting with his father, copying a painting and figure of Wu Youru every day. Wu Youru was the largest illustrator in the late Qing Dynasty. He could depict pavilions, pavilions, insects, fish, birds and beasts, exotic flowers and plants, and even thousands of armies and horses on a large scale. Every time Xu Beihong went to the city with his father, he would go to the painting shop to view the works of Shi Tao, Ba Ren, Ren Bonian and others. After returning home, he would write from memory. Under the diligent instruction of his father and the influence of innovative senior painters, he laid a solid foundation for Chinese painting. In his lonely boyhood with few toys, Xu Beihong quietly fell in love with many animals around him, and carefully observed and described them, such as docile cows, galloping horses, quacking white geese, flocks of ducks floating on the water, The depictions of flowers lying tiredly in the corner or growing on trees... all appear in his brushstrokes one by one, as if they were alive.
When he was 13 years old, there was a flood in his hometown. Da Zhanggong took Xu Beihongjin to make coal in another place. He painted figures, landscapes, flowers, and animals, carved seals, and wrote Spring Festival couplets. At that time, there was only portrait photography in the city, so they often painted portraits of people. For the young Xu Beihong, this was an extremely stringent test that would have a significant impact on his future outstanding achievements in figure painting. Of course, this career as a performer not only honed his artistic skills, but also brought him more into contact with the lower class society and the working people, inspiring his concern for the country and the people. He often signed his paintings at that time "Shenzhou Boy" ", "Jiangnan Poor Hero" express his great ambition.
As a boy, Xu Beihong was already exploring and creating a new painting style. At that time, the Bandit brand cigarette boxes came with animal pictures. Beihong loved to collect them. When he saw various animal specimens, he painted them. Sketch strictly and conscientiously. Some copies of the works of Western art masters gave him a vague desire to study art in Europe. However, the cold reality stood in front of him. The wandering life made his father seriously ill, and they had to return to their hometown.
17-year-old Xu Beihong became a well-known painter in Yixing and taught art at Yixing Women's Normal School, Pengcheng Middle School, and Shiqi Primary School. When Beihong was 19, his father died of illness. After burying his father with deep sorrow, Beihong decided to go to Shanghai to look for opportunities to work and study. When Zhang Zufen, a Chinese teacher at Yixing Junior Normal University, said goodbye to him, he encouraged him diligently: "You are young, smart, and hardworking, and your future is limitless. I hope you will remember this sentence: 'People can't be arrogant, but they can't be arrogant.'" I have nothing to give you, so I will give you these words! Xu Beihong felt infinite gratitude from the bottom of his heart and remembered these words throughout his life. He still carried them with him as a motto until the end of his life. She said to me tenderly: "Mr. Zhang Zufen can be called my first confidant!" "
In 1914, Xu Beihong came to Shanghai. Xu Ziming, a fellow countryman who was a professor at a Chinese public school, recommended Beihong's paintings to Xia Tian. The president of the university was highly praised and was given the opportunity to arrange work. Promise. When Xu Ziming accompanied Xu Beihong to the principal, the principal was very surprised and whispered to Xu Pingming: "He is as young as a child, how can he work?" Xu Ziming argued passionately: "As long as he has talent, why do you care about his age?" "Later, Xu Beihong wrote several times to the president of Fudan University, but received no reply; so Xu Beihong lived in Shanghai. While he was wandering without time, Xu Ziming introduced him to Yun Tieqiao, editor of "Novel Monthly". Xu Beihong took his Hua and Xu Ziming's letter went to see Huai Tieqiao, and he was favored. He agreed to find a small position as an illustrator for Xu Beihong in the Commercial Press, and asked Xu Beihong to hear back in a few days.
At this time. It was already the season of autumn rain. Xu Beihong didn't have an umbrella, so he went to hear the news in the rain. Mr. Yun Tieqiao said happily: "It worked!" You will be able to move to the Commercial Press soon. "A warm feeling came to Xu Beihong's cold body. He immediately rushed back to the hotel and wrote a letter to his mother and friends in his hometown saying that he had found a job. Just as the letter was sent, there was a sudden knock on the door. Yun Tieqiao stood there In front of the door, he held a paper bag in his hand and said in a panic: "The situation is desperate!" Xu Beihong hurriedly opened the paper package and saw that in addition to his own paintings, there was also an approval document inside: "Xu Beihong's paintings are not suitable for use." "Xu Beihong felt that his heart suddenly burst open and blood kept pouring out.
An uncontrollable pain and disappointment gripped him strongly. He rushed to the Huangpu River and wanted to end his life. The turbid and rushing sweat rushed against the river bank, and the ship's whistle roared sharply. Xu Beihong unbuttoned his clothes and let the ruthless wind hit his young chest. When a cold shiver slowly spread from his heels to his whole body, he said to himself soberly: "A person who can extricate himself when he is at the end of his rope is not considered cowardly!"
Xu Beihong returned Hometown, bid farewell to the first melancholy New Year's Eve without a father. A folk doctor in the town comforted him with deep sympathy and gave him a small sum of money. So Xu Beihong came to Shanghai again, but still couldn't find a job. By chance, Huang Zhenzhi, a wealthy businessman from Shanghai, saw Xu Beihong's works. He admired his genius and sympathized with his plight, and generously provided him with accommodation. But soon, Huang Zhenzhi unfortunately went bankrupt, and Xu Beihong had nothing to rely on. At that time, the famous Lingnan painters Gao Jianfu and Gao Qifeng brothers opened the Aesthetic Library in Shanghai. Xu Beihong painted a picture of a horse and sent it to the museum, which was greatly appreciated. He wrote back and said: "Although Han Qian was ancient, there is nothing he can do wrong!" and asked Xu Beihong to draw four more pictures of ladies. At this time, Xu Beihong only had 5 copper plates left on his body, and it took a week to finish the 4 pictures of ladies. Xu Beihong could only buy a ball of glutinous rice with one copper plate every day to satisfy his hunger. On the sixth and seventh days, he did not eat for the whole day. When he finally took the four paintings of ladies to the Aesthetic Museum, it was snowing heavily on the street, and the Gao brothers were not there. Xu Beihong had to hand the paintings to the gatekeeper to accept them. He was so hungry that he had to take off his thin clothes. Pawn clothes.
When the severe cold gradually subsided, Xu Beihong saw the enrollment advertisement of Aurora University, applied for the exam, and was admitted. However, he had no choice but to borrow money from a fellow countryman, Ruan Zhaiguang, who was not rich, to pay the tuition fee for admission. Ruan Zhaiguang warmly received and helped him. So Xu Beihong enrolled in school, and in addition to studying French, he continued to paint. One day, he read in the newspaper that the Mingzhi University attached to Hartung Garden was seeking a portrait of Cangjie, so he drew a portrait of Cangjie based on the ancient book's description, hoping to get some remuneration and solve his life difficulties. A few days later, Mingzhi University sent a car to pick him up, praised his work, and invited him to teach academics. Xu Beihong explained that he was still studying and had to wait until the end of the semester.
When the summer vacation came, Xu Beihong took his painting tools and went to Mingzhi University. At that time, Mingzhi University often invited scholars and celebrities to give lectures. Xu Beihong therefore met famous scholars Kang Youwei, Wang Guowei and others. Kang Youwei discovered that Xu Beihong was a prodigy in the art field, and asked him to paint portraits of himself, his late wife, and their friends, and gave Xu Beihong his entire collection to view. Under the guidance of Kang Youwei, Xu Beihong visited stone steles everywhere, improved his calligraphy skills, developed a sophisticated taste, and gradually formed his majestic and unrestrained personal style.
Xu Beihong received the writing remuneration from Mingzhi University and decided to go to Japan to study art. In May 1917, Xu Beihong arrived in Tokyo and spent the whole day looking for places to hide his paintings. He felt that some Japanese painters were no longer limited by old methods, and gradually shed their old habits, and were able to carefully observe and depict nature, reaching a profound and beautiful state. This made Xu Beihong more determined to integrate Chinese and foreign techniques. In Japan, he also befriended the famous artist Fujitsu Nakamura and saw his collection of many ancient Chinese inscriptions and fine Japanese paintings. Nakamura also asked Xu Beihong to bring the Japanese version of "Guang Yizhou Double Collection" to Kang Youwei.
In December 1917, Xu Beihong came to Beijing and began to show his prominence in China's world with his vibrant and national-style paintings. He was hired by Peking University as a tutor for the Painting Research Society. He saw a large number of excellent ancient Chinese paintings in the Forbidden City and drew rich nutrition from them. The intellectual circles in Beijing were very active at that time. Publications such as "New Youth" and "Weekly Review" violently attacked feudal ideas and spread democratic ideas and culture. Xu Beihong was also deeply affected, which made him stand firm. He was at the forefront of the New Culture Movement and became the most determined innovator among Chinese painters. In the first issue of Peking University's "Painting Magazine", he used the title "On the Reform of Chinese Painting" to fiercely attack the conservative forces in Chinese painting, pointed out pointedly: "The decadence of Chinese painting has reached its extreme today. There is no civilization in the world. Today, Chinese painting is 50 steps back from 20 years ago, 500 steps back from 300 years ago, and 800 steps back from a thousand years ago. It is regrettable. " He believed that the reason for the decline of Chinese painting was: "It is said to be conservative, but it has lost its status of academic independence." He lamented and wrote: "It is really a shame and a great disgrace to treat the ancestors who failed to catch up thousands of years ago.
"On the issue of how to carry out innovation, he clearly stated: "The good ones of the ancient methods should be kept, the outdated ones should be inherited, the bad ones should be changed, the deficient ones should be added, and the ones that are adopted from Western paintings should be integrated into them. "Thanks to the help of Bo Zengxiang and Cai Wupei, Xu Beihong finally received public funding to study in France. In March 1919, Xu Beihong set out for France by boat from Shanghai with the determination to learn science and democracy from the Westerners and to revive Chinese art. , began a turning point in his artistic career.
After Xu Beihong arrived in Paris, he first carefully observed the essence of Western art in major museums and compared the differences between them and Eastern art. He wrote absolutely nothing for several months. Then, he studied sketching at Xuliang Academy of Fine Arts, and then he was admitted to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He ranked first in every competition and went to the Louvre and the Luxembourg Museum after school. Study the similarities and differences of various schools and the attainments of famous artists, and copy the works of masters such as Pluto, Delagiolois, Velázquez, and Rembrandt. In the winter of 1920, French sculptor Tang Pott introduced Xu Beihong to France. Dayan Bouveret, the leader of the National Painting Society, opposed the old-fashioned French Artists Association and advocated innovation based on absorbing the strengths of various schools. From then on, Xu Beihong went there most of the time. Listening to Da Yang's teachings and attending tea parties with artists of the school, Da Yang encouraged Xu Beihong and said, "Learning art is hard work, don't be exaggerated." , don’t settle for small achievements. "He asked Xu Beihong to draw precise sketches and develop the habit of silent writing.
In April 1921, the French National Beauty Exhibition opened. Xu Beihong watched carefully from morning to night. When he walked out of the venue, he realized that it was snowing outside. He did not eat and lacked clothing to keep out the cold. He suddenly felt hungry and cold, and suffered from severe abdominal pain. He often forced himself to paint with pain, which is written in one of his still preserved sketches. "When people look at my paintings, how can they know that I am in so much pain every time that I do this?" "
In the summer of this year, his illness became more severe, and the tuition fees were completely cut off, so he had to go to Berlin. In Berlin, Xu Beihong met Camp, the director of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts, and saw Menzel, Suigandini As for Camp's works, he felt that although there were many masterpieces in France, they were still limited. He loved Rembrandt's paintings the most, so he went to the museum to copy them, and each of them continued to paint for 10 hours without even drinking a sip of water. Especially when copying Rembrandt's portrait of the Second Lady, I put in a lot of effort and felt that I had gained a little bit, but I still couldn't use it in my own works, so I worked harder.
In 1923, Xu Beihong returned. After arriving in Paris, his oil painting "Old Woman" was selected for the French National Art Exhibition for the first time. He visited Dayang again and stated that although he had not slacked off in his studies, he had made little progress. He said: "People have to suffer, and the same goes for studying. … People who have never experienced adversity often lack ambitious aspirations. The biggest writers are mostly people with the strongest perseverance, so they can achieve high achievements and plead for mankind. "Da Yang asked Xu Beihong to further refine his sketches. When painting the human body in oil, he should carefully study the parts. He must understand the subtleties and not pursue sharp and eye-catching brush strokes. Xu Beihong followed Dayang's teachings and saw great results, so he worked harder. He successively published "Sorrowful" In 1927 alone, 9 works were selected for the French National Art Exhibition and received high recognition.
In 1925, Xu Beihong also went to Singapore to paint for Tan Kah Kee and his Xiamen University, and exhibited his paintings in Shanghai, which aroused great interest in the cultural circles. "Xu Beihong wrote portraits of me, Duke Wen Shen, and Shen Zipeishang 10 years ago. They are lifelike. In painting, he is a genius. He traveled to Japan together and studied painting in France and Germany for 7 years. Today, I have been shown the painting, which is profound, magnificent, and majestic. It is unique in China and cannot be compared to others. His paintings are unprecedented in China, and his style of painting is also unprecedented in China. "
In 1926, Xu Beihong went to the museum in Brussels to paint. He loved Rubens's works and considered him one of the greatest color painters in ancient and modern times.
In the spring of 1927, Xu Beihong went to Italy. and Switzerland, lingering in front of the famous sculptures of St. Peter's Temple and Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, admiring the masterpieces of Renaissance masters, and visiting Pompeii to appreciate the ancient history of the West The atmosphere of art.
After eight years of diligent study and study, Xu Beihong felt that he was confident before creating and could write with ease.
Therefore, he returned to his motherland after a long absence with his superb painting techniques and extensive art knowledge, and devoted himself to the realism art movement that revolutionized Chinese painting. As an honest and upright artist, Xu Beihong's artistic activities and his ancestor's fate have always been closely linked.
After returning to China in 1927, Xu Beihong, together with Tian Han and Ouyang Yuqian, founded the Nanguo Art Institute. While serving as the dean of the Fine Arts Department, Xu Beihong began to create the huge oil painting "Tian Heng's Five Hundred Men", praising the oppressed people's most precious spirit of wealth, no lust, and unyielding might.
In 1928, Nanjing Central University also hired Xu Beihong as a professor in the art department. Xu Beihong proposed that he could not resign from his job in Nanjing. Therefore, he spent October in the South and half of the month teaching at the Chinese University of China.
In 1929, Xu Beihong became president of the Beijing Academy of Art. He hired Qi Baishi as a professor with the firm attitude of "one word speaks to all" and tried his best to promote the innovation of Chinese painting teaching.
Feeling that many talents in China were buried and suppressed, he created the huge Chinese painting "Nine Fang Gao". After several revisions of the draft, the joy of Chollima meeting his soulmate and the far-sighted demeanor of Jiufang Gao, although a woodcutter, are vividly expressed. From 1931 to 1933, Xu Beihong spent two years painting the huge oil painting "The Empress" with the theme of "The Book of Books" to express the people's desire to be rescued against their oppressors.
In order to promote Chinese art and improve the international status of Chinese art, Xu Beihong went to Europe in 1933 to hold a Chinese painting exhibition. The exhibition first caused a strong shock in Paris, with 3,000 important people attending the opening ceremony. The exhibition was extended for 15 days at the request of the audience, the catalog was printed to three pages, and there were more than 200 introductory articles in newspapers. French writer Paul Valori specially wrote an introduction to the exhibition. Xu Beihong's works were enthusiastically praised by the public. The French government purchased his painting "Cypresses" for collection. French newspapers praised the painting as being comparable to the master of the Barbizon School, Rousseau.
Subsequently, Xu Beihong went to Brussels, Berlin, and Frankfurt to hold personal exhibitions, which were a great success. More than 50 newspapers and magazines have published praise articles.
The Chinese painting exhibitions held by Xu Beihong in Milan, Italy, Leningrad, and Moscow in the Soviet Union also caused a sensation. The documentary of the exhibition was screened nationwide and was hailed as the most important cultural exchange since Marco Polo. The Hermitage Museum of the Soviet Union also established a special exhibition room for Chinese paintings. Xu Beihong wrote in the article "The Process of Promoting Chinese Art Throughout Europe": "I went abroad to hold Chinese painting exhibitions this time. I have exhibited 7 times in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union, and established 4 Chinese exhibition rooms in A total of 20 million copies of articles and magazines were published by major museums praising Chinese culture due to the exhibitions. All my contacts at the exhibitions, internally and externally, were never done in the name of the government... I spent a lot of money from the Chinese people and it was known as the cultural fund. There is no help from any of the agencies. All my fellow citizens, please pay attention to this. "Xu Beihong brought back precious masks of Lenin and Tolstoy from the Soviet Union, and promoted Soviet prints in Nanjing and Nanjing. Exhibition in Shanghai.
In 1935, Xu Beihong went to Guangxi and created the landscape painting "Spring Rain on the Li River". He used the technique of large splash ink to depict the unrivaled Guilin landscape. The scenes blended together, the pen and ink were dripping, and the method was novel and unique. It was the leader of Chinese freehand landscape painting. Representative work.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Central University moved to Chongqing, and Xu Beihong returned to the school to teach. He also created Chinese paintings such as "Ba People Drawing Water" and "Ba Poor Women" that reflected the hardships of life in the field.
In 1938, Xu Beihong took his works to Nanyang and held art exhibitions in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Ipoh with unprecedented success. Xu Beihong donated all the proceeds from the exhibition to help refugees in his motherland.
In 1940, Xu Beihong was invited by the Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore to give lectures at the International University in India and held an art exhibition in Calcutta.
Tagore wrote in the preface to the exhibition: "The Chinese art master Xu Beihong provides us with an ancient image that has disappeared in memory in rhythmic lines and colors, without losing the local color and color of his own experience. Unique style...I admired these paintings to the fullest and I am sure that our art lovers will get rich inspiration from these paintings...To talk too much is to talk...In this way, I raise the curtain of conversation to guide the audience Heading towards a once-in-a-lifetime beautiful feast?quot;
Xu Beihong made more than 10 sketches for Tagore, and based on them he completed the Chinese painting "Tagore." The great poet is concentrating on conceiving a beautiful poem. , the quiet and mysterious garden has infinite poetry. It is one of Xu Beihong's portrait masterpieces. Under Tagore's introduction, Xu Beihong also made a sketch of Mahatma Gandhi.
In India, Xu Beihong created. The huge Chinese painting "The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountains", which has been conceived for a long time, shocked people's hearts with its arduous spirit and belief in victory. At the critical moment of the survival of the Chinese nation, he used his brush to write a great image of the strong and unyielding compatriots worthy of the times. . Xu Beihong made more than a hundred studies and drawings for this painting, and finally used huge rice paper to express the human body in violent motion. This was unprecedented in Chinese and Japanese paintings, and it opened a new chapter for the development of Chinese painting. One page is a perfect combination of history and reality, Western painting and Chinese painting.
After Xu Beihong returned to Chongqing in 1942, he prepared a large number of outstanding Chinese paintings under extremely difficult conditions. Among his works, animal paintings play a very important role. The animals in his paintings all reflect the artist's own spirit and have strong feelings about the times. He likes to write about lions that command the power of animals, with the inscription "coming alive with new life". When his ancestors were invaded and people were ravaged, he painted wounded lions that looked forward to their longings. Loved by people from all over the world, "I ask you what the fruit of health is for. I am running all day long in search of life." "The road is flat", the painter's joy, anger, sorrow and joy have been integrated with the galloping horse that can support life and death. In the wind and rain, the rooster crows, the sparrow flies against the wind, the gluttonous white goose fails to eat, and the chaotic laziness of the cattails The pigs are lifelike and come out of the paper, and at the same time they are endowed with profound meanings. Their subtext and meaning outside the painting give people beautiful aftertaste and profound enlightenment.
In the summer of 1943, Xu Beihong worked in Qingcheng Mountain. There are two character paintings with completely different atmospheres, and they are both based on Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs". One is a lonely mountain ghost in a quiet valley, and the other is a soldier who sacrificed his life for the country in a fierce battle. Whether it is "Mountain Ghost" or "National Sorrow", the painter's sadness and anger are beyond the painting, and they are closely connected with the pulse of the motherland.
In 1946, Xu Beihong came to Peking and served as the principal of Peking Art College. He hired many influential and capable artists to teach at the school. In view of the weaknesses of Chinese art teaching, he attached great importance to strict basic training, emphasized that sketching is the foundation of plastic arts, and the description of objects must be accurate. At the same time, he also opposed copying objects and advocated key selections, both broad and subtle. He advocated realism and required students to take expressing people's lives as their own responsibility rather than being self-sufficient by copying ancients. He advocated the development of traditional Chinese painting and the development of traditional Chinese painting. innovation.
In April 1949, he attended the first World Peace Conference as a representative of New China. In the same year, he was appointed president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and elected president of the National Association of Art Workers. The heavy teaching work and social activities never stopped him from painting. He painted many portraits of famous labor models. Moreover, he continued to care for young people outside of school. Every day when the first ray of dawn bursts into the window, he gets up and goes to work. The first thing he does is to reply to the letters he received in the previous year. Most of them come from young people who love art from all over the country. Some people also send their works. Ask for correction. Xu Beihong responded, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each volume of paintings sent, and giving praise, encouragement, criticism, and suggestions. As a result, he shortened his sleep time, which lasted for decades. As a senior painter, he felt the responsibility to care for the younger generation. At the same time, the review of his painful journey of learning painting also burned his passion for a long time. Therefore, many outstanding contemporary artists are on the road to success. In the book, Xu Beihong had given help or expressed affection.
In 1951, Xu Beihong went to Shandong to experience life in the Daoshu Renovation Project despite being ill. He painted many portraits of migrant workers and prepared to create a huge oil painting "Contemporary New Foolish Old Man". During the composition period, he suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was left half-body paralyzed.
In 1953, when Xu Beihong was gradually able to get up and move, he went to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to give classes to graduating students and teacher training groups. He felt that there was still a lot of knowledge that had not been imparted to them, so he tirelessly gave lectures and revised paintings for them. , completely forgetting that he was still ill. On September 23, the Second National Conference of Author Representatives in Literature and Art opened. He served as executive chairman and presided over the meeting. That night, he suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and died on September 26. Representatives from the literary and art circles across the country sent Xu Beihong to be buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in the western suburbs of Beijing.
In December of the same year, an exhibition of Xu Beihong's posthumous works was held in Beijing. Premier Zhou Enlai visited it in person. He stood in front of Xu Beihong's portrait and pointed to the couplet written by Xu Beihong with great thoughts: "With a cold eyebrow, he bowed his head to a thousand fingers." "Gan Weiru Ziniu" said: "Xu Beihong has this kind of spirit." He praised Xu Beihong's works for integrating ancient and modern Chinese and foreign techniques, and believed that his oil paintings and sketches also have national styles, and he was an art master of his own time. .
Xu Beihong’s former residence was opened as Xu Beihong Memorial Hall, and Premier Zhou Enlai inscribed the plaque “Beihong’s Former Residence” in powerful fonts.
There are more than 1,200 pieces of Xu Beihong's works. He saved more than 1,200 pieces of works by calligraphers and painters from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern times, as well as more than 10,000 Chinese and foreign art books, pictures, and tablet rubbings. They were all dedicated to the country by their families. Xu Beihong only lived to be 58 years old, and his life was very short. But his love for the motherland and people has always remained. His works with strong patriotism and superb artistic skills are displayed in the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall in Beijing, exciting the hearts of thousands of viewers and arousing people's attention to He is deep