On December 27th, the opening ceremony of the series of activities to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Li Tiefu's birth and the opening ceremony of Heshan Tiefu Art Museum were held. Witnessed by hundreds of guests, the Heshan Tiefu Art Museum named after Mr. Tiefu was officially opened, and 50 genuine Works of Li Tiefu were exhibited for the first time.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Li Tiefu's birth. In order to highlight Li Tiefu's artistic achievements and inherit and carry forward The revolutionary spirit of Li Tiefu, a series of activities such as the academic seminar "Iron Bone Danqing - Li Tiefu's Art and Revolution" were held in Heshan City in recent days, the opening of the Heshan Tiefu Art Museum, the exhibition of Li Tiefu's authentic works and famous artists, and the unveiling of the bronze statue of Li Tiefu.
Li Tiefu, formerly known as Li Yutian, was born in 1869 in Heshan, Guangdong Province, was the first Chinese oil painter to study in the West and was internationally recognized, enjoying the reputation of "the father of Chinese oil painting", and was praised by Sun Yat-sen as "the first giant in the East Asian painting world". In the view of many experts, he has left a strong mark on the history of the Chinese painting world, and the fate of his life is full of gaps and legends: it is both an artistic life and a revolutionary life; it is both vigorous and depressed; it is both prominent in the world and on a par with the great painters of Europe and the United States, and it is also hidden in the motherland and little known...
"Li Tiefu made the history of Chinese oil painting advance decades"
In the history of modern and contemporary Chinese art, Li Tiefu is a well-known name: he was the first known Chinese to study Western art overseas, and studied with American masters such as Sargent and William Chase. "It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Li Tiefu was the first Chinese to master the pure oil painting technique." Li Jinkun, president of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Artists Association, said.
In 1869, Li Tiefu was born in an earthen house with only thirteen truss roofs in Chenshan Village, Yayao Town, Heshan City, to poor peasant parents. At the age of 16, Li Tiefu followed his people overseas to earn a living, during which time he began to study oil painting and studied Western painting in many Western countries. In 1915, Li Tiefu held his first solo exhibition in New York, and his reputation in the international art world grew. The following year, Li Tiefu was admitted as a member of the International Academy of Painting Science, becoming the first person in Asia to enter this highest art research institution, and then joined the American Academy of Fine Arts, becoming a well-known figure in the international art world at that time.
In 1950, Li Tiefu returned to Guangzhou with all the works around him, accompanied by the greeters sent by the Guangdong Provincial People's Government, to attend the welcome meeting of the Preparatory Meeting of the South China Federation of Literature and Art, and was appointed honorary professor of the South China Academy of Literature and Art and vice chairman of the South China Federation of Literature and Art, and dedicated all his paintings to the country and the people. After Li Tiefu's death, the works around him were preserved by the South China Academy of Literature and Art (later merged into the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts) where he worked during his lifetime.
In the eyes of industry insiders, Li Tiefu has systematically studied Western oil painting art for a long time, entered the mainstream art circle in Europe and the United States with strong strength, and kept pace with the european and American painters at that time, and is a milestone figure who has reached a high level of achievement in the history of Chinese oil painting and can be in line with Western art, and is a well-deserved "father of Chinese oil painting". At the same time, his artistic achievements were also appreciated by many famous artists of the time: Sun Yat-sen praised him in overseas newspapers as "the first giant of East Asian painting"; John Sargent called his oil painting "a second person in the United States"; William Chase considered him an "Oriental artist who excelled in Western oil painting".
"There is a consensus in the Chinese oil painting community that Li Tiefu has advanced the history of Chinese oil painting by decades." In the view of Deng Pingxiang, former vice chairman of the Hunan Artists Association, Li Tiefu is a well-deserved "father of Chinese oil painting". Zhang Zuying, vice president of the China Oil Painting Society, believes that Li Tiefu was the first oil painter in modern China to study in a Western country, and his historical status is self-evident. "We previously held an exhibition on the history of Chinese oil painting in the past century, and Mr. Li Tiefu's works were placed in the first position of the opening chapter, which received a lot of attention."
Li Jinkun said that since modern times, Guangdong art has played a role as a bridgehead in the modern transformation of Chinese art, not only providing a valuable "Lingnan scheme" in the transformation of traditional Chinese painting, but also pioneering in the field of Western painting into China. "This time, the Heshan Tiefu Art Museum was officially opened, and for the first time, 50 real works of Li Tiefu were exhibited, showing a more three-dimensional artistic image of Li Tiefu, which will effectively promote the study of the history of early Chinese oil painting and the history of modern and contemporary Chinese and Western art exchanges."
He sold more than 200 oil paintings to fund the Xinhai Revolution
In addition to his status as an artist, Li Tiefu was a pioneer of China's democratic revolution, holding a long-term position in the New York branch of the League, donating his elaborate art paintings to fund revolutionary activities.
According to historical records, since the end of the nineteenth century, Sun Yat-sen often went to Britain, Canada, and the United States to carry out revolutionary propaganda and organizational work among overseas Chinese, and successively established branches of the Xingzhong Association in various overseas places. From this period onwards, Li Tiefu was influenced by Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas and followed Sun Yat-sen to propagate the revolution throughout Britain and the United States. After Sun Yat-sen reorganized the Xingzhong Association into the League in New York, Mr. Li Tiefu was one of the first 15 members and served as the executive secretary of the New York branch of the League for 6 years.
"In order to support the revolution, he participated in the creation of the League and actively raised funds for the revolution." Jiang Tingyu, a researcher at the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution and former director of the office, said: Li Tiefu has worked tirelessly to propagate the revolutionary purposes of the League in various parts of the United States, raised funds for the revolution in many ways, and successively donated all the prize money for his oil paintings and the proceeds from the sale of more than 200 oil paintings to the League for activities, but he himself lived a single and simple life. "It can be seen from this that Li Tiefu is not an ordinary literary and weak painter, but also a revolutionary who is not afraid of sacrifice and is full of blood."
Jiang Tingyu also revealed a small story of Li Tiefu's personal participation in the Xinhai Revolution: In 1910, Cheng Biguang, commander of the Qing Navy, was ordered to fly the "Haiji" to Europe and the United States. When the ship was docked in New York, Li Tiefu and two other members of the League, Zhao Gongbi and Deng Jiayan, ventured to the ship to propagate revolutionary ideas and instigate an uprising, which touched the officers and men on the ship. The following year, when the Haixi sailed back to Shanghai, the Wuchang Uprising occurred at the right time. Cheng Biguang resolutely revolted and overthrew the Manchu Qing regime.
Li Tiefu's revolutionary friendship with Sun Yat-sen was also confirmed when his album was published. At the opening ceremony of a series of activities to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Li Tiefu's birth held on the 27th, Song Chunyan, assistant director of the Soong Ching Ling Former Residence Management Center and director of the Cultural Management Department, shared a small story: In 1979, 27 years after Li Tiefu's death, Soong Ching Ling, as Mrs. Sun Yat-sen, was an 86-year-old man. However, after learning the news that Li Tiefu's painting album was about to be published, Song Qingling immediately said, "I know this person." After that, she gladly wrote the title of the book for the album, and also specially inscribed 3 inscriptions for the publisher to choose and use.
Recently, when Li Jishen's daughter Li Xiaosong visited the former residence of Tiefu, she was very emotional after seeing the handwritten letter written by his father Li Jishen, who was framed on the wall, to Li Tiefu. She recalled the revolutionary friendship between Li Jishen and Li Tiefu at that time, and it was difficult to hide her excitement: "Mr. Li Tiefu is not only a great artist, but also a great patriotic revolutionary. In our former residence in Wuzhou, Guangxi, we still have the room where Mr. Li Tiefu lived independently. ”
focus
Today, how does Heshan polish the "Iron Man" business card?
Li Tiefu's life is not only a life of art, but also a life of revolution. But it is regrettable that although Li Tiefu has made great achievements overseas, due to various factors, his influence on the domestic art circle is limited, and the current research status of him in China is also extremely incompatible with his achievements. In the series of activities held in Heshan this time, many experts have loudly shouted that the current domestic research on Li Tiefu is very lacking, and people from all walks of life should work together to "salvage" historical materials to restore a richer and more authentic image of Li Tiefu for future generations.
Li Jinkun pointed out: "Li Tiefu's birth year, his revolutionary achievements in his early years in the League, his resume of studying painting overseas, and his interpersonal relationship and state of mind after returning to China are all historical mysteries that remain unresolved. Wu Hongliang, vice president of the Beijing Academy of Painting and director of the Art Museum of the Beijing Academy of Painting, believes that "all along, our understanding of Li Tiefu has been superficial and fragmented. Especially in Beijing, many people know that Li Tiefu is a legend of Chinese art history in the 20th century, but they rarely have the opportunity to appreciate his original works, and it is impossible to talk about Li Tiefu's academic research. ”
Coincidentally, Shang Hui, editor-in-chief of Fine Arts Magazine, proposed that Li Tiefu had been engaged in oil painting creation earlier than Xu Beihong, but the industry still did not know enough about it. "Li Tiefu is the first generation of oil painters to approach the origin of Western oil painting and deserves admiration. The commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Mr. Li Tiefu's birth has set off a historical topic that allows us to attach importance to and make up for the lack of understanding of the history of Chinese oil painting in the 20th century. ”
In the view of Yin Shuangxi, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Li Tiefu's popularity in the domestic art circle is not high, and he was even forgotten for a while, in a sense, because of his personality. "He was very low-key, pursuing only art and revolution, and never pursuing personal fame and fortune." According to historical records, after Li Tiefu vigorously funded the Xinhai Revolution in the early days, Sun Yat-sen invited him to return to China to take up his post, but he mistakenly thought that the revolution had won victory, and politely refused, continuing to immerse himself in his oil painting world.
In this regard, many experts have suggested that the study of Li Tiefu's artistic life and revolutionary life should be strengthened next. Yin Shuangxi, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, suggested that government departments should set up research funds to encourage more experts and scholars to carry out research topics on Li Tiefu's art and revolution. Li Weixing, former deputy director of the Theory Department of the People's Liberation Army Newspaper, proposed that from the perspective of improving cultural self-confidence, Li Tiefu should be publicized as a cultural brand at a higher height.
In this regard, Lin Xianjin, secretary of the Heshan Municipal PARTY Committee, said at the opening ceremony of the series of activities to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Li Tiefu's birth in Heshan City and the opening ceremony of the Heshan Tiefu Art Museum that the series of activities held in Heshan to remember Mr. Tiefu this time is to highlight Li Tiefu's artistic achievements, inherit and carry forward Li Tiefu's revolutionary spirit, struggle spirit, and innovative spirit, further strengthen cultural self-confidence, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and condense the spiritual strength of building a modern and entrepreneurial city in the Bay Area.
The reporter learned that he will take art as a bridge and Li Tiefu as a link to allow the world to get close to Heshan and understand Li Tiefu in depth, further improve the attention of the academic community to Li Tiefu, and promote the communication and exchange of modern And contemporary Chinese and Western art culture. "Mr. Tiefu's historical status and research value are very high, and in the future, we will strengthen the excavation and sorting of Mr. Tiefu's materials, strengthen publicity, strengthen contacts and exchanges with experts and scholars, polish Tiefu's business card, and restore his historical status." Zhang Zhen, member of the Standing Committee of the Heshan Municipal CPC Committee and director of the Propaganda Department, said.
[Reporter] Dong Youyi
[Correspondent] Zhu Qiang Zhang Manjun
【Author】 Dong Youyi
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client