130 years ago today, on July 19, 1895 (May 27, 1895), Xu Beihong, an outstanding painter in our country, was born. Xu Beihong was sketching Xu Beihong, who was born in Yixing County, Jiangsu Province on July 19, 1895. His father was a teacher and a painter. Xu Beihong was an outstanding painter and an outstanding art educator in our country. He lived only 58 years, and he was engaged in social art activities for less than 40 years. His artistic life is not long, but the achievements he pioneered are forever. He worked hard for the revitalization and development of Chinese art all his life, and he is a rare noble artist. He really absorbed and mastered the excellent techniques in Western art and laid the foundation for Chinese oil painting, and was a pioneer in reforming Chinese painting. He was one of the main pioneers who integrated Chinese and Western painting and made Chinese painting move towards an innovative situation. He adhered to the principle of realism to guide teaching, with incomparable love and concern for art talents, cultivated a new generation of Chinese artists, and was the founder of realist art education in our country. As early as 1920, he clearly put forward the proposition of "those who are good at ancient law abide by it, those who are not good will follow it, those who are not good will change it, those who are not enough will increase it, and those who can adopt Western painting will be integrated." He advocated "the way of plastic arts, the noble and the bright are not yet obscure." He opposed the erosion of Western formalism and the imprisonment of Chinese conservatism, and adhered to realism. It was Xu Beihong's consistent thought in half a century of life. He once sharply criticized the wrong ideas of some people who were keen on modernism. At the same time, he also forcefully refuted the old-fashioned tendency of being divorced from reality and talking about verve. Xu Beihong is good at Chinese painting, oil painting, sketching, etc. His works have a wide range of subjects and diverse genres, including figures, beasts, birds, flowers, and landscapes. He is especially famous for painting horses. However, he always insists on putting figure painting first. Even works that express natural beauty such as animals and birds often endow profound social meanings and pay attention to adding personal touch. He was distressed by the decline of figure painting in the late feudal society, and took it as his responsibility to revitalize figure painting. In practice, he first made a long-lasting effort in figure painting. From 1919 to 1927, he transferred to Paris via England and studied in France and Germany for eight years. During his stay in Europe, he studied classical and romantic painting in depth, dedicated himself to the study of realistic techniques, and laid a solid foundation for modeling. He integrated Chinese and Western painting, combining some scientific modeling methods in Western painting with traditional Chinese painting modeling characteristics, and first carried out pioneering creative activities on huge figure paintings of historical themes. From 1928 to 1930, he created a large multi-figure oil painting "Tian Heng 500 Shi", and then created a huge Chinese painting "Jiufanggao", as well as many figure paintings of historical themes. Most of his works are inspired by the reality of deep distress, reflecting a strong sense of patriotism and a tendency to sympathize with the working people. At the same time, it is unique in art, representing the highest level of figure painting creation at that time, and has the pioneering significance of revitalizing figure painting creation. In 1937, he began to conceive and create a huge Chinese painting "Foolish Gong Moves Mountains", which was finally completed in 1940. The theme of this painting is very clear, indicating that he has seen the strength of the people during the difficult period of the national war of resistance. He believes that the whole nation will persevere and persevere in the war of resistance, and the enemy will definitely be defeated. In his works, he enthusiastically praises the indomitable and hard-working spirit of the working people, and the performance of cohesion in the artistic language is very touching. In the same year, he also created the oil painting "Let Go of Your Whip", which was based on the popular street drama of the same name, and painted the scenes of outdoor performances, directly praising the people's anti-Japanese enthusiasm. At the same time, he also created Chinese paintings such as "Ba Ren Drawing Water" and "Ba Zhi Poor Woman", as well as a large number of works based on the artistic images in patriotic poems such as Qu Yuan and Du Fu, reflecting his deep sympathy for the oppressed people and sincere patriotism. In addition, a large number of Chinese paintings of flowers, birds and landscapes created by him not only have a unique artistic style in shape and ink, but also most of them are figurative, with far-reaching meanings and distinct ideological nature. Galloping Horse, Rooster, Lion and other works are well known for their spiritual sustenance, which praise the people's spirit of self-improvement; and "Upwind", which he began to create as early as 1936, with a flock of birds flying in the wind, also reflects a kind of hard-working thoughts and feelings. Comrade Mao Zedong once praised this work as "very thoughtful and contemporary". After liberation, although he was ill and worked, in just four years, he painted a large number of portraits of heroes and model figures, painted for volunteer soldiers, started to create works such as Chairperson Mao in the crowd celebrating liberation, and Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai, and went deep into the fiery construction life, planning to create huge oil paintings until his death. Xu Beihong's artistic achievements are outstanding. He is an artistic master who has won a world reputation and has made significant contributions to the promotion of the culture of the motherland. At the same time, Xu Beihong is also an outstanding art educator. He has said many times that art education is his first job, and creative activities are only second. The reason why he put teaching first is because he felt the decline of Chinese art at that time, and knew that the revival of art is the cause of the whole nation. It requires the efforts of generations of people, and it cannot be carried forward by painting a few paintings alone. In addition, he experienced a lot of displacement in his adolescence, and he was well aware of the hardships of studying, which made him open himself to others and deeply sympathize with the poor young art lovers who could not go to school. It can be said that at the same time as he began to study painting, he had already made a volunteer to revive Chinese art as his own responsibility. It is not so much that he has a greater interest in art education than art creation, but that he has a greater sense of responsibility for cultivating art talents. In 1917, at the age of 22, he was hired as a tutor of the Painting Research Association of Peking University. In 1928, after returning from studying abroad, he enthusiastically supported the Shanghai Nanguo Academy of Art planned by Comrade Tian Han, and served as the head of the art department, discovering and cultivating a group of talented students. At the same time, he was employed by the Art Department of Nanjing Central University. He taught in this school for more than ten years, actively supported progressive students, strictly demanded, and tirelessly taught others. He cultivated a batch of art forces for our country, many of whom have become famous artists in our country and the backbone of art education. In 1929, on the recommendation of Mr. Cai Yuanpei, Xu Beihong was appointed as the dean of the Peking Academy of Arts. He was determined to reform art education and fought tenaciously against old-fashioned ideas and reactionary forces. During his tenure, he hired Qi Baishi, an outstanding painter who was snubbed at the time, as a professor, and personally escorted him to teach classes to students. In 1940, he was invited by Tagore, an Indian poet, to give lectures at the International University of India. In 1942, he founded the China Academy of Art, a creative research institution that hired a group of famous artists and young and middle-aged painters as researchers and associate researchers. In 1946, he was appointed as the principal of the Peking Art College, and he widely united and hired artists who were influential and capable in society to teach at the school. This art college became the predecessor and foundation of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in New China. On the eve of liberation, the party organization contacted Mr. Xu Beihong many times in secret. He happily accepted the instructions of Chairperson Mao and Vice Chairperson Zhou that he should "under no circumstances leave Beiping, and do more work for the party in the cultural circle as much as possible." He firmly united a large number of teachers and painters in the art circle of Beiping, ushering in liberation. After the founding of New China, the art college was reorganized into the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He served as the dean and worked diligently until the last breath of his life, making valuable groundbreaking work for the people's art education. Xu Beihong and Wang Ying pose for a group photo in front of his painting "Put Down Your Whip" (Singapore, October 1993) Xu Beihong poses in front of his painting "Dancer Picture" Xu Beihong and his wife Liao Jingwen (1950) Xu Beihong and his wife Liao Jingwen and children Xu Beihong pose for a group photo with Indian poet Tagore