In the spring of 1940, Rabindranath Tagore, the India poet and writer, whose portrait is available in the exhibition, invited the artist to hold exhibitions and give talks in India. Through Tagore, Xu met Mahatma Gandhi, whose sketched portrait is included in the exhibition.
He produced a large amount of works with anti-Japanese themes to bolster Chinese morale. A typical example is Joining Forces in Tokyo, which is included at this exhibition. In this painting four roaring male lions at the top of Mt. Fuji in Tokyo stand for the four allies at the second World War-- China, the US, the Soviet Union, and the UK—which are looking forward to success in the war against Fascism, while the female and young lions aside them symbolize women and children in troubled water.
Professor at Beijing University Zhu Qingsheng who presided over the exhibition opening ceremony believes that the show will be an opportunity for us to look back and consider the current situation seriously. According to him, the exhibition is not only meant to show Xu’s artistic achievements, but also the painter’s courageous choice to help China tide over the war through art.
Horse was Xu Beihong’s lifelong drawing theme. Right in the middle of the exhibition hall is a painting of six galloping horses, which, with manes flying, powerful necks and legs straining, come alive in front of visitors. Full of energy and freedom, galloping horses show the way the artist felt about China’s future.
Most of the exhibited paintings carry the artist’s personal feelings, which are often explained in Chinese calligraphy set to the side. Through the Chinese explanations, visitors are able to have a glimpse of Xu’s feeling and behind-the-scene action when every painting was created.
“Following the exhibition of Xu Beihong’s works, a series of exhibitions of Chinese contemporary art gurus like Lin Fengmian, Yan Wenliang and Shi Lu will be held in the Yanhuang Art Museum,” said He Juxing, the curator of Yanhuang Art Museum and the Brand Image Department manager of the China Minsheng Banking Corp (CMBC). Yanhuang Art Museum, founded in 1991 under the guidance of the late painter Huang Zhou, was financially entrusted to CMBC in December 2007.
By Dong Jirong
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