Yan Wenliang Memorial Hall

Yan Wenliang Memorial Hall

Yan Wenliang Memorial Hall is located at No. 4, behind the Canglang Pavilion in Suzhou, on the west side of the renowned Canglang Pavilion garden. The museum was reopened to the public free of charge in August 2013 after renovation. The Yan Wenliang Oil Painting Exhibition and the Zhu Shijie Oil Painting Exhibition are respectively held in the first and second exhibition halls on the first floor of the main building, featuring 48 and 20 works respectively; the Yan Wenliang Life and Historical Materials Exhibition is also on display on the second floor of the main building.

This site was formerly the location of the Suzhou Art School, co-founded by Yan Wenliang, Zhu Shijie, and Hu Cuizhong, as well as the original site of the Suzhou Art Museum. Its main building is a Western-style structure built during the Republican era, notable for its twelve Roman columns along the porch. After restoration, the memorial hall covers an area of 2,000 square meters, with the main building occupying 1,200 square meters. Its primary functions include Yan Wenliang research, exhibition displays, and public education.

Yan Wenliang trained a large number of artistic talents and is recognized as one of the “Four Founding Fathers” of modern Chinese art education, alongside Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, and Liu Haisu. The Yan Wenliang Art Award is a regular national academic event held biennially, with the first edition taking place in 2011. Compared to many contemporary art awards sponsored by commercial brands and media, the Yan Wenliang Art Award emphasizes independent academic standards and positioning, with “a blend of traditional and modern spirit” being a key criterion for selection. Geng Jianyi and Jia Aili won the Yan Wenliang Art Award and the Yan Wenliang Youth Art Award, respectively.

Yan Wenliang (1893–1988), a native of Suzhou, was a key figure in the establishment of modern art education in China, a renowned art educator, former advisor to the China Artists Association, vice-chairman of the Shanghai branch of the China Artists Association, and deputy president of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts.

Born into an artistic family in Suzhou, Yan Wenliang was exposed to art from a young age. At the age of 16, he was admitted to the Commercial Press in Shanghai, where he studied engraving, plate-making, and printing techniques before transferring to the art studio to learn Western painting.

In 1912, he independently experimented with making oil paints and created his first oil painting, Moonlight over Shihu Lake.

In 1919, he initiated... Yan Wenliang detailed information++