Beijing Xu Beihong Memorial Hall

Beijing Xu Beihong Memorial Hall

Beijing Xu Beihong Memorial Hall is a national AA-level tourist attraction and a patriotic education base.

In 1953, on the day of Xu Beihong’s death, his wife, Madam Liao Jingwen, donated their former residence at No. 16 Dongshoulu Street, Dongcheng District, to the state. In 1954, the “Xu Beihong Memorial Hall” was established on the basis of the former residence, becoming the first personal art museum for an artist in New China. The name of the memorial hall was inscribed by Guo Moruo. In 1966, when construction of the Beijing subway began, the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall—which happened to be located on the subway line—was demolished. In 1973, following Premier Zhou Enlai’s directive to “rebuild the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall,” construction of the new building commenced. After more than a decade, it finally opened to the public in 1983. The new hall is located at No. 53 Xinjiekou North Street and features seven exhibition rooms displaying authentic works such as Xu Beihong’s oil paintings, traditional Chinese paintings, sketches, and calligraphy.

Location

The new hall was completed in 1982 and is situated at No. 53 Xinjiekou North Street, Xicheng District. It covers a total area of Xu Beihong Memorial Hall

3,900 square meters, with a building area of 4,600 square meters. The main structure is a two-story gray exhibition building consisting of one introductory hall and seven exhibition rooms. The introductory hall displays Xu Beihong’s self-portrait, large photos of him painting, and the exhibition preface. The first, second, and seventh exhibition rooms showcase representative traditional Chinese paintings from various periods of Xu Beihong’s career. The fifth room exhibits his oil paintings, the sixth room displays his sketches, and the fourth room is dedicated to Xu Beihong’s life memorial, illustrating the difficult journey of the young Xu Beihong from a poor rural village to the world, as well as a restored version of his former studio and precious personal belongings. The new hall opened to the public in January 1983 and receives over 10,000 visitors annually.

In addition to the exhibition halls, a modern art storage facility has been built to better preserve Xu Beihong’s works, as well as the masterpieces of renowned artists from various dynasties that he collected throughout his life, along with tens of thousands of books, historical rubbings, and other valuable materials.

Highlights of the Scenery

Exhibition Room Setup: The first, second, and seventh exhibition rooms display representative traditional Chinese paintings from various periods of Xu Beihong’s career.

Among them are large-scale works such as “Jiufanggao,” “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains,” “The Ba People Drawing Water,” “National Martyrs,” “Boatmen,” “Mountain Ghost,” “The Poor Woman,” “Leaning on Bamboo at Dusk,” “Galloping Horse,” “Herd of Horses,” “Shepherd Boy and Ox,” “Ox Bathing,” “Spring Rain over the Li River,” “Bamboo,” “Flying Eagle,” “Geese in Chaos,” “Morning Melody,” “Against the Wind,” and “Chickens Crowing in the Wind and Rain.”

The second and seventh exhibition rooms display 101 sketches, ranging from the artist's early figure studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and Montparnasse studios in Paris to late-life portraits of model workers and renowned scholars. Other works include “Ancient Temples of the Ganges,” “Himalayan Forests,” “Gandhi,” “Singapore Boatman,” “Nepalese Girl,” and “On the Way to Jiming Temple.”

The third and fifth exhibition rooms feature oil paintings, including “Five Hundred Warriors of Tian Heng,” “Ginkgo Trees,” “Moonlit Night,” “Flute Sound,” “Portrait of Chen San Yuan,” “Ox,” “Landscape of Guilin,” and “Himalayas.”

The fourth exhibition room presents a large number of images introducing Xu Beihong’s humble family background, childhood dreams, lifelong creations, teaching and social activities, as well as his international exhibitions. The restored room of his former studio and living quarters displays his brushes, drawing boards, and paints. On the desk is a set of the Four Treasures of the Study that he used during his lifetime, and on the easel is his final unfinished work, “Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai.” The walls of the room feature photographs of his teacher, the famous French painter Dagnan-Bouveret, a photo with his close friend, the Indian poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, a photo with his wife taken a week before his death, and his last acquired artwork—Ren Bonian’s “Wisteria and Kingfisher.”

Memorial Hall Collection

The memorial hall currently houses 1,286 pieces of Xu Beihong’s works, including traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings, sketches, watercolors, gouaches, and calligraphy. It also preserves 1,134 pieces of calligraphy and paintings by renowned artists from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties, and modern times, as well as approximately 10,000 items of Chinese and foreign art books, stone rubbings, albums, and images. Among these, the Tang Dynasty painting “Eighty-Seven Immortals Scroll,” the Song Dynasty painting “Zhu Yun Breaking the Railing,” the Ming Dynasty painting “Wang Youjun Writing on a Fan,” and Jin Nong’s “Returning Home in Wind and Rain” are all rare masterpieces.

Xu Beihong Memorial Hall has held exhibitions of Xu Beihong’s works in New Delhi, Kolkata (India), Victoria and Toronto (Canada), Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka (Japan), and Singapore.

Since March 28, 2008, the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall has been open to the public free of charge. A daily visitor limit has been set, and the “free but ticketed” policy is implemented; visitors need to make reservations in advance by phone or online, and present the reservation proof at the museum entrance to collect tickets for entry. Additionally, temporary and special exhibitions held after going free may still require separate ticket purchases according to regulations. Some services such as film screenings and audio guide rentals may also be subject to fees.

History

In 1954, the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall was established. It has now been 50 years since its founding. Entering the 21st century, with the significant development of the museum sector, the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall faces important decisions regarding its direction in this new historical period. As a public institution, the museum must undergo in-depth reforms in personnel systems, distribution systems, and organizational adjustments.

Xu Beihong once lived in an elegant courtyard house at No. 16 Dongshoulu Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. In 1953, on the day of Xu Beihong’s death, Madam Liao Jingwen and her family donated all of Xu Beihong’s artistic works to the state. Premier Zhou personally inscribed a plaque for the “Former Residence of Beihong.” In 1954, the government established the “Xu Beihong Memorial Hall” based on the “Former Residence of Beihong,” making it the first personal art museum for an artist in the early years of New China. The name of the memorial hall was inscribed by Guo Moruo. The director was initially concurrently held by Wu Zuoren, then-president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1957, Madam Liao Jingwen became the director, a position she still holds today.

Xu Beihong (1895–1953), of Han ethnicity, was originally named Xu Shoukang and was from Qiting Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. He was a modern Chinese painter and art educator. He studied Western painting in France and, upon returning to China, devoted himself to art education, teaching at the Art Department of the National Central University, the Art College of Peking University, and the Peking Art Specialized School. After 1949, he served as president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He excelled in figure painting, animals, and flowers and birds, advocated realism, and particularly admired Ren Bonian among traditional painters. He emphasized the integration of Western painting techniques into Chinese painting reform and stressed accurate depiction of light, form, anatomy, and bone structure in his works.

[Xu Beihong Detailed Information++]

Xu Beihong (1895–1953), of Han ethnicity, was originally named Xu Shoukang and was born in Qiting Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. He was a modern Chinese painter and art educator. He studied Western painting in France and, after returning to China, dedicated himself to art education for many years, teaching successively at the Art Department of the National Central University, the Art College of Peking University, and the Peking Art Academy. After 1949, he served as the president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Proficient in figure painting, animals, and birds-and-flowers, he advocated realism and held Ren Bonian in especially high esteem among traditional artists. He emphasized reforming traditional Chinese painting by integrating Western painting techniques, stressed the importance of light and form in painting, and insisted on accurate anatomical structure and skeletal depiction of subjects...  More details about Xu Beihong ++