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
School of Art at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei (蔡元培). 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.
Xu enjoyed massive support from art collectors across Asia. Between
1939 and 1941, he held solo exhibitions in Singapore, India and Malaysia
(Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh) to help raise funds for the war relief
effort in China. During an exhibition in March 1939, Xu held a group
exhibition with Chinese painting masters Ren Bonian (任伯年) and Qi Baishi (齊白石), and showcased 171 works of art at the Victoria Memorial Hall.
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. Xu is probably the one most responsible
for the direction taken in the modern Chinese Art world.
Qi
Baishi (齊白石, 1864-1957) was one of the most well-known contemporary
Chinese painters. His original name is Qi Huang (齊璜) and style name
Weiqing (渭清). Baishi ("white stone") is one of his pseudonyms. Some of Qi's major influences include the Ming Dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭) and the early Qing Dynasty painter Zhu Da (朱耷, 即"八大山人"). The
subjects of his paintings include almost everything, commonly animals,
scenery, figures, vegetables, and so on. In his later years, many of his
works depict mice, shrimps, or birds. Qi Baishi is particularly known
for painting shrimps.
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Born to a peasant from Xiangtan (湘潭), Hunan, Qi became a carpenter
at fourteen, and it was largely through his own efforts that he became
adept at the arts of poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal-carving. In his forties, Qi Baishi began traveling
and looking for more inspiration. He came upon the Shanghai School,
which was very popular at the time, and met Wu Changshuo (吳昌碩)
who then became another mentor to him and inspired a lot of his works.
Another influence of Qi Baishi came about fifteen years later, as Qi
became close to Chen Shizeng (陳師曾) after he settled down in Beijing.
Qi Baishi theorized that "paintings must be something between likeness and unlikeness." His prodigious output reflects a diversity of interests and experience, generally focusing on the smaller things of the world rather than the large landscape. Shrimp, fish, crabs, frogs, insects, and peaches were his favorite subjects. Using heavy ink, bright colors, and vigorous strokes, he created works of a fresh and lively manner that expressed his love of nature and life. In 1953 Qi Baishi was elected to the president of the Association of Chinese Artists. He was active to the end of his long life and served briefly as the honorary president of the Beijing Academy of Chinese Painting, which was founded in May, 1957. He died in Beijing on September 16, 1957. |
