FROM AN IMPORTANT ASIAN COLLECTION (LOTS 1302-1318)XU BEIHONG AND HIS FRIENDS IN ASIA: WORKS BY XU BEIHONG FROM AN IMPORTANT ASIAN COLLECTION By Professor Xu QingpingIn 1939 my father Xu Beihong left Guilin for Nanyang to raise funds for anti-Sino Japanese War activities. Over the next few years, he created over a thousand paintings and organized 36 selling exhibitions through which he donated all the proceeds to assist the orphans of deceased soldiers and displaced refugees. It is also during this period that Xu Beihong worked with both traditional Chinese ink and western oil media to create the masterpiece The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains that praised the unfailing spirit of the Chinese people. Xu believed that an artist should “use his ability to contribute to one’s country and fulfil one’s responsibility as a citizen.” We are extremely fortunate to see this display of Xu’s works, it is as if the patriotic artist relives in front of our eyes. Xu Beihong is renowned for his depiction of animals for they are true to their spirits. Under his brush, each animal demonstrates its unique temperament - the cow honest and down-to-earth, the horse shrewd and brave, the cat agile and watchful, and the rooster loyal and alert. Chinese literati painting prides itself in expressing sentiment through symbolism. Painters depict the “three friends” - pine tree, bamboo and plum blossoms to manifest their perseverance for they thrive in the harshness of winter. They paint a large rock or a strong branch to symbolise a long-lived spirit. However, if an artist blindly copies the symbols without truly understanding the underlying meaning, then his work merely emanates a constructed elegance but is in fact a mockery to one’s creativity. Xu Beihong fused together the Chinese philosophical concepts of morality (de) and benevolence (ren) as well as western teaching of the pursuit of universal truth and progress. His work sees a rich imagination that is characteristic of Romanticism. As such, Xu successfully transformed the sentiments and hidden meanings in Chinese poetry into metaphors personified in the protagonists of the paintings. Before the arrival of the Japanese army, Xu Beihong left Singapore to return to China on a ferry via Myanmar. Eighty years later, we are pleased to see that a large body of work that Xu created in his Southeast Asia journey has been kept intact under one single collection, allowing us to get a glimpse of Xu Beihong as an artist in that period, and the enduring greatness of his art. Note: The introductory notes in this collection were written by Professor Xu Qingping.

XU BEIHONG (1895-1953)

Sparrows on Willow

Details

XU BEIHONG (1895-1953)
Sparrows on Willow
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
68.7 x 29 cm. (27 x 11 3/8 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dedicated to Yuefeng
Note: The recipient of the painting is Han Yuefeng, the son of Han Huaizhun.

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Lot Essay

Sparrows are one of Xu Beihong’s favourite subjects. He often called sparrows “the little things” and claimed that he had emotions attached to small, ordinary things inconspicuous to most people. Sparrows are free, brave and smart, they chirp happily every morning to announce the beginning of a day. Artists throughout history have been very fond of birds - Claude Monet compared his paintings to spring mornings, with birds chirping joyfully in the backgound. Xu painted soft and slender willows in light grey brushwork, presenting to viewers a minimal composition and the sparrows in their full liveliness.

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