Xu Beihong Memorial

The Xu Beihong Memorial is a memorial of Chinese celebrities located at the Xinjiekou North Street in Xicheng District of Beijing. The memorial was first built in the former residence of Xu Beihong in 1954, demolished in 1966, and was reconstructed at the present site in 1973. The new memorial was completed in 1982 and opened to the public in January 1983. The memorial has seven exhibition rooms.

The No.1, No.6 and No.7 exhibition rooms are for color ink paintings from each period of Xu's career. Large-scale paintings includeOld Man Moves a Mountain,Boat Trackers,Galloping Horse,Spring Rain on the Lijiang River,Bamboos,Eagle,GeeseandCock Crowing in the Rain, etc.

The No.2 exhibition room displays oil paintings such asTianheng 500 Soldiers,Maidenhair Trees,The Moon Night,Sound of Vertical Flute,Portrait of Chen Sanyuan,Ox,Sceneries in Guilin,The Pride of the Morning in Himalayas, and so on.

The No.3 and No.5 display sketches including works from what Xu Beihong drew when he was studying at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris to the portraits of model workers and renowned scholars he drew in his late years, as well asMountain Forest of the Himalayas,Gandhi,Singaporean Boatman,Nepalese Girland so on.

The No. 4 exhibition room displays photos of Xu Beihong's life story. It displays Xu' s studio as it was originally arranged. Among the wall hangings are traditional Chinese paintings by Ren Bonian and Qi Baishi, and a photo of Xu with the Indian poet and philosopher Tagore. Also on display are the master's seals, ancient artifacts, and gifts given by foreign friends. Photos include shots from Xu' s trips to the former Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, Italy and India.

The memorial hall also houses some of the artist’s famous ink galloping horse paintings, a variety more traditional ink studies of nature, calligraphy, and many sketches, among which can be found portraits of Gandhi (1940) and Mao Zedong (1950). Even in many of Xu Beihong’s more traditional works, visitors can see different, experimental elements as well as the use of western techniques, particularly in regards to the human form. Some of his traditional ink paintings have an almost cinematic quality in their exploration of light and shade. One such painting, Shades of Autumn (1938), features the grotesque touch of a large fly on a branch. The name of the piece encourages the visitor to imagine the spindly branches of the tree rustling in the wind and the buzzing of the fly. Another, Spring Rain on the Lijiang River (1937), uses generous splashes of ink to portray expressively the wet weather falling upon the shoulders of the lone fisherman steering his boat. 

Xu Beihong (1895-1953) was born in Yixing County, Jiangsu Province, on July 19, 1895. At age 9, he started to learn Chinese painting. In 1919, on a Chinese government scholarship, he studied in Paris, France, at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He learned the European manner of realistic oil painting & devoted many long hours sketching & studying the masterpieces in the museums of France, Berlin, Brussels, Italy & Switzerland. Rembrandt & Rubens were favourites. He spent 8 years abroad, during which time he had acquired a wide knowledge of art.

In 1933 he was invited by the French National Art Gallery in Paris to organize a Chinese art exhibition. The French government bought 12 traditional Chinese paintings, including works by Beihong, Qi Baishi & Gao Qifeng. Additional invites came from Italy, Belgium, Berlin, Moscow & Leningrad.

In 1949 he became president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing & was elected chairman of the National Union of Chinese Artists.

At the age of 58, Xu Beihong died of a stroke on September 26, 1953. His former residence in Beijing was converted into the Xu Beihong Museum. He left over 1,200 of his own works. By saving on his food & clothing, he had built an extensive collection & library of over 10,000 volumes on Chinese & foreign art, as well as over 1,200 other paintings & calligraphy from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming & Qing Dynasties & of modern times.

Through Xu Beihong's efforts, new audiences & art museums abroad became familiar with Chinese art; as well, he had worked hard to advance Chinese painting within China.

Add: No.53, North Xinjiekou Street;
Entry ticket:  ;
Opening hours: 9:00 AM -- 4:00 PM;
Transport: Bus No.s 22, 38, 47, 626, 726, 409, 709, 810 and 826;
Tel: 86-10-62252042.

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