Xu Beihong (Volume 1 and Volume 2)

Author: Zidu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: What I call art is to exert one's effort to make the creation reveal no hidden form. What I call beauty is to use sensitive perception to dominate the additions and subtractions, creating a natural realm. Art that is transmitted through art does not need beauty to stand, but beauty cannot exist without art. Art is only enough to serve as a reference, while beauty is enough to captivate people. – Xu Beihong on Art
Xu Beihong (1895-1953) was a modern painter and art educator from Yixing, Jiangsu. His original name was Fengkang. His father, Xu Dazhang, was a renowned local painter skilled in poetry, calligraphy, and seal carving. He did not pursue fame or status but preferred depicting everyday scenes. He had profound expertise in figure painting, landscape painting, and flower-and-bird painting. His mother, Lady Lu, was a simple and kind rural woman. Xu Beihong was the eldest son in the family, with five younger siblings.
When Xu Beihong was born, the Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan had just been signed, plunging the Chinese people into deep suffering. The Xu family's life became even more impoverished, but his father never gave up on his education. At the age of six, his father began teaching him to read. In addition to studying, Xu Beihong had a special fondness for painting, which was opposed by his father. However, his father promised to let him learn painting after he finished reading the Zuo Zhuan.
By the age of nine, Xu Beihong had completed reading works such as the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Changes, the Book of Rites, and the Analects. He then began learning painting from his father. After completing his daily lessons, he would copy a landscape or figure painting by Wu Youru. His father also taught him to do figure sketches, asking him to paint portraits of his siblings and neighbors. Once, when Xu Dazhang returned from an outing, he asked who had visited. Xu Beihong had silently sketched the visitor's portrait on his palm, which his father could see at a glance. This demonstrated his extraordinary ability to capture the features of a person.