Venue: Guangdong Museum of Art (BAIETAN) Hall 1-3,1st floor

Organizers: Guangdong Museum of Art, Xu Beihong Memorial Museum

Co-organizer: Beijing Wisdom Art & Culture

Supported by: Péon Museum

Exhibition Director: Wang Shaoqiang, Wang Hongying

 

As a pivotal figure in China's modern artistic transformation, Xu Beihong's artistic practice consistently embodied an academic logic of "reaching breadth while achieving precision." From epic thematic creation to allegorical image reconstruction, from innovation in brush and ink language to breakthrough in artistic conception, he pioneered a modern grammatical system fusing Chinese and Western art. The exhibition examines three historical segments of Xu Beihong's life: "Young Scholar from Jiangnan: Enlightenment, Study, and Artistic Transformation (1895-1925)," "Born in Troubled Times: Art Education and National Sentiment (1926-1936)," and "Tireless Self-Improvement: National Responsibility and the Philosophy of Aesthetic Education (1937-1953)." Through an intertextual narrative combining 73 representative works and extensive documentation, it deeply decodes the contemporary generative mechanism of his "saving the nation through art" ideology and "realism" methodology.

 

As a core academic institution in South China, the opening of the new Guangdong Museum of Art building marks a new milestone in the development of Chinese art museums. This exhibition represents both a centennial reassessment of Xu Beihong's artistic legacy and an academic response to the cultural strategy of the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area." Through establishing a digital art documentation database and international scholar network, the new museum will continue to promote paradigm innovation in modern Chinese art research, writing the contemporary epic of Chinese art through civilizational dialogue.

 

Xu Beihong, a modern Chinese painter and art educator born in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, stands as one of the founding figures of modern Chinese art. Renowned internationally for his exceptional artistic achievements and contributions to art education, he studied in France during his early years, where he was deeply influenced by Western classical painting and realist art. Upon returning to China, he dedicated himself to integrating Chinese and Western artistic traditions, pioneering a new chapter in modern Chinese art.

 

Moonlit Night ｜ Oil on Canvas 

 

Meeting of Forces in Tokyo｜ Chinese Painting

 

Nine Methods of Judging Horses｜Chinese Painting

 

The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains Chinese Painting