Xu Beihong

On July 19, 1895, Xu Beihong was born in Qitingqiao Town, Yixing County, Jiangsu Province.
In 1901, following his father's teachings in reading and calligraphy, he developed a desire to learn painting, but his father forbade it. He secretly sketched chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs near the riverside and houses.
In 1904, after completing studies of The Four Books, The Book of Songs, The Book of Documents, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, and Zuo Zhuan, he began formally studying painting under his father. After daily lessons, he would copy one architectural or figure painting by Wu Youru. His father also taught him figure drawing, sketching portraits of his siblings, neighbors, and others.
In 1905, traveling with his father by boat to Liyang, he composed a poem inspired by the scenery: "Green spring waters spread widely, Spring mountains hold hues of beauty; A favorable breeze fills the sail, Boats pass through myriad mountain ranges."
In 1908, he traveled with his father to nearby counties, painting birds, flowers, landscapes, and portraits, carving seals, and writing Spring Festival couplets, thus beginning a wandering life as an artist and developing the habit of never being without his brush.
In 1912, due to his father's serious illness, he returned to his hometown and served as an art teacher at Yixing Women’s Normal School, Pengcheng Middle School, and Shiqi Primary School.
In 1914, after his father passed away, he borrowed money from his father’s close friend Tao Linshu to bury him, then decided to go to Shanghai seeking opportunities for work-study. However, unable to find employment, he had to return to Yixing.
In 1915, he went again to Shanghai, making a living by illustrating books and designing advertisements, and began selling paintings. His work Horse received praise from Gao Jianfu and Gao Qifeng, who declared, “Even the ancient Han Gan could not surpass this.”
In 1916, he enrolled at Aurora University to study French, continuing to paint during his spare time; in March, he was hired by Mingzhi University to create artworks and give lectures, where he met scholars such as Kang Youwei. He painted portraits of Kang Youwei, his late wife He Zhanli, and their friends.
In 1917, funded by earnings from Mingzhi University, he traveled to Japan to study fine arts. He extensively viewed Japanese art collections and observed that although Japanese bird-and-flower painters broke free from traditional conventions, their works still lacked depth. He also met Japanese painter and collector Nakamura Fusetsu, gaining access to many precious Chinese steles and rubbings lost overseas.
In 1918, he was appointed by Cai Yuanpei as a mentor at the Painting Research Association of Peking University, joining the New Culture Movement just before the May Fourth Movement. At the association’s opening ceremony, he advocated absorbing the strengths of Western painting to create new artistic styles. He contributed articles to the Journal of Painting, criticizing the stagnation and decline of contemporary Chinese painting and calling on artists to rise up for reform. He created works such as Ancient Pines and Cypress on the Western Hills and Green Peaks Amid Clear Mist.
In 1919, with assistance from Cai Yuanpei and Fu Zengxiang, he traveled to France to study abroad; in October, arriving in Paris, he studied Western art at major galleries, then attended Xuliang Academy for two months of drawing training before entering the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, joining Flameng’s studio to study oil painting and drawing. In his spare time, he copied works and compared different schools at the Louvre and Luxembourg museums, both treasure troves of artistic masterpieces.
In 1920, he met French painter Dagnan-Bouveret, visiting his studio at 65 Rue de l’Observatoire every Sunday with his works for critique, and attending tea gatherings with fellow artists of Dagnan’s circle. Through conversations with Ményer, Bénard, and others, he gained valuable insights.
In 1921, he visited the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts in Germany and later traveled through England, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy.
In 1922, he painted over ten hours daily, copying Rembrandt’s works in museums and sketching numerous wild animals at the Berlin Zoo.
In 1923, he returned to Paris and continued studying at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Under Dagnan’s guidance, he refined his drawing skills and produced large numbers of figure studies at various Montparnasse academies. For oil figure studies, he focused on detailed rendering and memory-based drawing. His oil painting Old Woman was selected for the French National Art Exhibition.
In 1924, he created works including Portrait of a Woman with a Cat, Xiao Flute, Horseman and Horse, and Faraway Sounds.
In 1925, he traveled to Singapore, creating artworks for Tan Kah Kee and the Xiamen University he founded. At winter’s end, he returned to China.
In 1926, he painted portraits of Kang Youwei and Huang Zhenzhi. He exhibited his accumulated works in Shanghai, attracting attention from the cultural community. Kang Youwei praised Xu Beihong’s art as “profound, exquisite, subtle, magnificent—unrivaled in China.” Three months after returning home, he went back to Europe. First, he copied works by Jordaens in Brussels, Belgium, then visited Rubens’ masterpieces in Antwerp.
In 1927, he traveled to Switzerland to appreciate Holbein and Böcklin’s works. He specifically visited Zurich to view the Impressionist representative Hodeler’s paintings along the left bank of the Rhine. He toured famous Italian cities, lingering long before Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Raphael’s The School of Athens, Botticelli’s monumental frescoes, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, and Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, reluctant to leave. Meanwhile, nine of his works were selected for the French National Art Exhibition, achieving success with their unique Eastern charm and earning him acclaim in the French art world. With determination to revive Chinese painting, Xu Beihong returned to China and settled in Xiafei Lane, Shanghai.
In 1928, he became head of the Art Department at Nanguo Art College and professor at the Art Department of Nanjing Central University. He began creating the large-scale oil painting based on Records of the Grand Historian titled The Five Hundred Followers of Tian Heng. During summer vacation, he traveled to Fuzhou to create the oil painting The Martyrdom of Mr. Cai Gongshi. By year-end, he moved to Beijing to serve as president of the Beijing Art Academy.
In 1929, he initiated reforms in art education at the Beijing Art Academy, appointing Qi Baishi as professor—a move obstructed by conservative forces. He completed the ink painting Poetic Scene from the Six Dynasties and published articles in exhibition bulletins promoting realism. At Yan Wenliang’s invitation, he gave lectures at Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1930, he completed the oil painting The Five Hundred Followers of Tian Heng and published “Beihong’s Autobiography” and “Various Aspects of French Art Exhibitions” in Liangyou magazine.
In 1931, he held exhibitions in Lyon, France, and Brussels, Belgium, completed the ink painting Jiufang Gao, and lectured at Nankai University in Tianjin.
In 1932, he moved from Dantong Street, Nanjing, to No. 6 Fujian Road, naming his residence “Perilous Nest,” and hung a couplet inscribed in the style of Jing Shiyu: “Holding firm to my own views, I walk alone unswayed.” He created works such as A Rooster’s Cry Brings Light to the World and Deep in Thought, held a joint exhibition with Yan Wenliang, and compiled the treatise A Guide to Painting.
In 1933, he completed the oil painting Waiting for Me; from May to June, his works Jiufang Gao, Memories of an Ancient Capital, Muddled, Loquat, Rooster, Lakeside, Duck, Poetic Scene from the Six Dynasties, Water Buffalo, Five Elders Peak of Mount Lu, Horse, Lion, Flock of Geese, Nanjing One Duo, Cat, and others participated in the Chinese Painting Exhibition at the French National Foreign Art Gallery. He also held a solo exhibition in Brussels, Belgium, visited The Hague and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, toured Rembrandt’s former residence, and held a Chinese painting exhibition in Milan, Italy.
In 1934, invited by the Berlin Art Society in Germany, he held solo exhibitions in Berlin and Frankfurt; from May to July, he organized modern Chinese art exhibitions in Moscow and Leningrad. After returning home, he created works such as Life Awakened and Muddled.
In 1935, he led students on a sketching trip to Mount Huang, completing oil paintings Rosy Clouds and Mount Huang. He traveled to Guangxi, finishing ink paintings Wild Ferry on the Li River, Cormorant, Ink Pig, Betel Nut Palm, Tiger and Rabbit. He facilitated Soviet woodblock print exhibitions in Nanjing and Shanghai and wrote prefaces for them.
In 1936, he returned to Guangxi, residing in Guilin and Yangshuo, boating on the Li River. He completed works such as Against the Wind, Snowscape, Herdsboy and Ox, Village Song, Morning Melody, Recollections of Valor, and Rooster Crowing in Wind and Rain.
In 1937, he held exhibitions in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Changsha; he purchased from a German lady in Hong Kong the treasured Chinese figure scroll Eighty-Seven Immortals. In Guilin, he created the expressive landscape ink painting Spring Rain on the Li River and the hopeful ink painting Rooster Crowing in Wind and Rain. Following Central University’s relocation to Chongqing, he created works depicting people’s suffering, such as People Drawing Water from the Ba River and Poor Woman.
In 1938, during summer vacation, he led a training program for secondary school art teachers throughout Guangxi. He completed works Ox Bath, Bright Rock, Wounded Lion, and Elephant Trunk Hill, and held a solo exhibition in Hong Kong.
In 1939, he traveled to Singapore for a solo exhibition, donating all proceeds to Chinese disaster victims. Inspired by street theater, he created the oil painting Put Down Your Whip.
In 1940, he lectured at Visva-Bharati University in India and held solo exhibitions there and in Calcutta. He made over ten oil paintings, drawings, and sketches of Tagore, created the ink painting Portrait of Tagore and Herd of Horses, and sketched Mahatma Gandhi. He completed sketches Riverside, After-Dinner Fun, Leisure Time, Makeup, Darjeeling, Forests of the Himalayas. In Darjeeling, he finished the monumental ink painting The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains, using the old man’s perseverance to inspire the people during a time of national crisis.
In 1941, he completed the painting Galloping Horse and held fundraising exhibitions in Penang, Ipoh, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, donating all income to Chinese refugees.
In 1942, he returned to teach at Central University in Chongqing, held a morale-boosting exhibition in Kunming, and created ink paintings Chicken Foot Mountain, oil paintings Temple Complex at Chicken Foot Mountain and Six Steeds.
In 1943, he held an exhibition in Chongqing, showcasing representative works of his ink paintings, oil paintings, and drawings from previous years, and created works Purple Aura Coming from the East, Confucius Teaching, Mountain Spirit, Ode to the Fallen, Du Fu’s Poetic Vision, Portrait of Liao Jingwen, Portrait of Li Yinquan, Ginkgo Tree, Qingcheng Mountain, Group of Lions, Two Horses Drinking, Plum Blossoms, Soaring Eagle.
In 1944, he created works Thin Sleeves in Cold Weather, Sunset Low Amid Tall Bamboo, Moonlight, Flying Eagle; by late summer, he suffered from high blood pressure and chronic nephritis, spending six months in hospital.
In 1945, gradually recovering from illness but still weak, he continued teaching art students at Central University.
In 1946, he traveled from Chongqing via Nanjing and Shanghai to Beijing, assuming the presidency of the National Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, recruiting numerous artists as faculty, establishing a complete teaching system, and serving as honorary chairman of the Beijing Artists Association, advancing the realist art movement.
In 1947, he published a written statement titled “Steps Toward Establishing a New National Painting” to clarify his artistic vision; he also held a Xu Beihong exhibition in Shanghai.
In 1948, he drafted the manuscript On the Review and Prospect of Chinese Art and published the article “Reviving the Chinese Art Movement.”
In 1949, as a Chinese delegate, he attended the First World Peace Congress in Prague; in July, he was elected standing committee member of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the All-China Association of Fine Arts Workers; in September, he attended the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference by invitation and was appointed president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1950, he created oil paintings Portrait of Cavalry Hero Tai Xide and Chairman Mao Among the People (draft), completed drawings Portrait of Gou Furong, Portrait of Rong Guansiu, Portrait of Li Changlin, sketch draft Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai, and wrote the biographical critique “Appreciation of Ren Bonian” for the Ren Bonian Painting Collection.
In 1951, he went to Shandong to experience life at the Daoshu-Zhengyi water conservancy project site, collecting materials. He created works Portrait of Engineer Zhang Jin, Portrait of Farmer Ren Jidong, Portrait of Model Worker Lü Fangbin. Preparing to create The Contemporary Foolish Old Man reflecting the people’s spirit of transforming nature in the new era, he unfortunately suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while sketching the composition.
In 1952, bedridden, he remained concerned about domestic and international art activities and the teaching work at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, planning to compile Patriotic Education Posters, aiming to compile and publish important artistic treasures throughout history.
In 1953, he created works Where the Head Looks Is Where Light Lies and Removing All Obstacles Makes the Path Level; in September, he served as executive chairman of the Second National Congress of Literature and Art Workers; on September 26, he passed away in Beijing at the age of 58.