Reading/Shenzhen Business Daily reporter Liang Ying/Wen Hanmo/Figure
The paintings that Xu Zhimo took with him when he was killed, the letterhead he Xiangning wrote to his friends during the War of Resistance, the media interviews Li Qiujun gave as a female artist... On October 23, "He Xiangning and the Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Society: A Picture of the Chinese Women's Art Movement in the First Half of the 20th Century" opened at the He Xiangning Art Museum, focusing on 12 female artists active in the art scene of the Republic of China led by He Xiangning, and a large number of precious paintings and historical materials were presented for the first time, reproducing the unique fanghua of a female artist in the history of modern and contemporary Chinese painting.
It is understood that this exhibition is curated by young curator Fang Hua, which is one of the projects of the "2020-2021 Guangdong Provincial Art Museum Young Curator Support Program" and the opening of the theme of "Chinese Women's Art in the 20th Century" of He Xiangning Art Museum. The exhibition focuses on He Xiangning's relevant works and historical documents of the Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Society, and many precious books, paintings, letters, etc. are exhibited for the first time. This special exhibition is based on the collection and literature of He Xiangning Art Museum, and is also supported by the collections of Guangdong Museum of Art, Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Shenzhen Museum, Liao Zhongkai He Xiangning Memorial Hall, Wu Qingxia Art Academy, and Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial Hall.
△ Curator guided tour
The exhibition starts with He Xiangning's works, and the organizers believe that He Xiangning's paintings not only inherit the essence of tradition, but also involve more complex social and artistic propositions, and their importance is far ahead of the previous sages. He Xiangning's artistic practice is inseparable from the history of modern and contemporary Chinese painting. He Xiangning's life experiences can help us understand the problems experienced by Chinese women's art in the first half of the 20th century. As the leader of The Early Women's Movement in China, the idea of women's emancipation advocated by her also inspired a generation of female art groups, the China Women's Calligraphy and Painting Society, a women's art society with historical significance.
Curator Fang Hua introduced that the 12 female artists in this exhibition are all active in the Chinese art scene in the 20th century. They represent the three identities of the female art group in the Republic of China painting world. In terms of artistic ideas, they are revolutionaries who dedicate themselves to society, new bridesmaids who inherit traditions, and new women who are committed to the Western painting movement. From the perspective of artistic orientation, they are all influenced by the ideological trends of the times and social changes, or inherit traditions, or study Western painting, or integrate Chinese and Western. Female artists represented by He Xiangning and Yu Feng are artists who resolutely devote themselves to the social revolution and take the reform of society as their own responsibility, and art is a powerful weapon for them to serve the revolution; Feng Wenfeng, Chen Xiaocui, Gu Fei, Li Qiujun, Zhou Junxia, Wu Qingxia, and Lu Xiaoman of the China Women's Calligraphy and Painting Association are female painters of the "Boudoir School", who are talented, good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, and while inheriting China's excellent traditional art, they embody the professional expansion of the new women of the Republic of China who stand on their own feet and bask themselves on calligraphy and painting; Fang Junbi, Guan Zilan, Yang Yinfang, Female artists represented by Yu Feng, who were enlightened by the idea of the Art Nouveau Movement, aimed at building a new art culture, and explored the true meaning of the integration of Chinese and Western art.
Even audiences unfamiliar with these female artists can still find familiar names in this exhibition. Huang Binhong's letters, Hu Shi's inscriptions, Tagore's stories, the works and documents in the exhibition tell a period of good stories in the art world. Among these female artists, there are disciples of well-known artists such as Huang Binhong and Zhang Daqian, literary talents with the same name as Zhang Ailing and Su Qing, and there are also the first generation of Chinese women who studied in Paris and broke into the Paris Art Salon, which together constituted a colorful female painting world in the Republic of China period.
In addition to presenting their artistic achievements, the exhibition also shows their multi-faceted artistic talents through documentary materials, such as the beautiful painter Zhou Junxia, who is proficient in poetry, and Lu Xiaoman, a talented woman who is good at Kunqu opera. The exhibition of Lu Xiaoman's work "Long Scroll of Colored Landscapes" is not only Lu Xiaoman's most representative work, but also witnesses a period of literary past. In 1931, the poet Xu Zhimo took this painting to Beijing to collect the title, when Xu Zhimo was unfortunately killed in a plane crash, but the picture scroll was fortunately handed down and became a precious work of Lu Xiaoman remembering Xu Zhimo. In addition to praise, Hu Shi and He Tianjian's poems reflect their different artistic ideas.
Wonderful paintings and detailed historical materials have attracted many audiences. The reporter saw at the scene that the exhibition is divided into three parts, the first chapter "The Awakening of the Country, Women's Independence" takes He Xiangning as a case, is divided into "The Ancient Country Has Studied and Gone to Other Countries for Many Years", "Women's Space and Role Transformation", "Our Goal: Women's Movement and Salvation", with He Xiangning's works and pictures, literature about He Xiangning's study in Japan, the origin of his artistic career, the fortunes of life and creative transitions, the idea of women's movement and the War of Resistance to save the country, presenting He Xiangning's artistic practice in social change, and her as a pioneer for women during the Shanghai period. Influence on a generation of female art groups.
He Xiangning's "Tiger"
The second chapter, "The Hundred Rivers of The Sea and the Hundred Rivers," takes the Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Society, which was established in Shanghai in 1934, as the main line, and sets up five special topics: "Guan Lingqunfang's Brilliant Pen", "Heavenly Journey, Plain and Innocent", "Cui Yin Lou Lord, Golden Pavilion Guoshi", "Century-old Golden Scales, Huiying Qingxia", and "Scenery That Must Not Be Seen", presenting the calligraphy and painting creations of Feng Wenfeng, Li Qiujun, Gu Fei, Chen Xiaocui, Zhou Lianxia, Wu Qingxia, and Lu Xiaoman and their social activities. Under the influence of the New Culture Movement, the establishment of the Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Association marked the overall awakening of the subjective consciousness of Chinese female painters. With the help of the collective power of the community, they strive for the independent status of women's art, showing the unique value of women's art in the 20th century.
△ Zhou Lianxia's work "Bamboo Butterfly"
△ Gu Fei's letter to Huang Binhong
△ Feng Wenfeng Eight words lily book couplet
The third chapter, "European Wind East Gradually Becoming More Ancient", focuses on Fang Junbi, Yang Yinfang, Guan Zilan and Yu Feng, four female artists who are committed to modern painting and focus on realistic care, showing them in modern art education and new cultural movement ideas, breaking through secular prejudices, from deep boudoir to the world, bathing in the wave of Western modern art, and looking for artistic expression that integrates East and West. They broke through the limitations of the Artistic Orientation of the Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Association and the female painters engaged in the creation of Chinese painting, widely absorbed Western modern art, integrated new concepts and techniques in artistic pursuit and artistic practice, and opened up a new artistic outlook and became their own. Based on modern realism, Fang Junbi, Yang Yinfang and Guan Zilan present the two special topics of "Chinese and Western Marginal Modern Boudoir Show" and "Oriental Shen Yun Art Trend", which integrate the artistic heritage of their own ethnic groups and highlight the vibrant appearance of modern Western painting. He also presents the historical interweaving of the two female revolutionary painters with the history of He Xiangning with the theme of "Revolution and Art, Paying Tribute to He Xiangning".
△Fang Junbi's work "Kyoto Cherry Blossoms"
△ Guan Zilan's work "Stars in a Bottle"
The exhibition's catalogue of the same name, He Xiangning and the Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Society: A Picture of the Chinese Women's Art Movement in the First Half of the 20th Century, was published by Guangxi Normal University Press. During the exhibition, the organizers will also launch a series of public education activities, including "Little Docent" guided training, art workshops, academic lectures, etc.
Review: Sun Shijian