Rongbaozhai Painting Spectrum 92

Author: Xu Yansun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: Xu Yansun is known by the name Xuyansun, styled as Shuanghongkangzhu and Shuanghonglouzhu. He was born in Shen County, Hebei in 1899. From a young age, he enjoyed painting figures and once studied painting with an elderly folk painter. During his youth, he first learned painting from Guannianci. Guannianci was the father of Guipinghu, a contemporary figure painter and guqin player, and had served as the head of the Ruyiguan in the court painting academy during the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty. He was skilled in figure painting, landscape painting, and flower-and-bird painting. Later, he studied figure painting under Yu Diefan, who specialized in figure painting. In the early 1920s, the Chinese Painting Society was established, and he joined as one of its first members. Due to the rich collection of artworks and the presence of a painting hall in the home of the society's president Jin Gungbei, he had the opportunity to view famous works from various dynasties, allowing him to copy and study them. Xu Yansun possessed high talent and was diligent in his studies, which led to his early fame. His works were highly praised in the annual achievement exhibitions of the Chinese Painting Society. In 1927, he illustrated Romance of the Three Kingdoms for Beiping Morning News, which was well-received by society. The following year, he was appointed as a professor at Beijing Art College, where he nurtured a generation of outstanding talents.