Beauties and Heroes: Legends and Stories in Chinese Art
(from 21st Jan until 15th Jul 2012)Explore paintings, prints and papercuts depicting legendary figures from Chinese folklore.
Zhong Kui the demon queller with sword
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Description
Xu Beihong is an important figure in the history of modern Chinese painting. Between 1919 and 1927, he studied Western painting in Paris and travelled around Europe. On returning to teach in China, Xu began to promote ‘the reformation of modern Chinese art’ through a combination of Western realistic style and Chinese freehand brushwork. This idea had a strong impact on the style of ‘national painting’ between the 1950s and 1970s.
Between 1938 and 1941, Xu toured India, Malaya, and Singapore with his solo exhibitions, and he painted this portrait of Zhong Kui during this time. Compared to the depiction of Zhong Kui as an official, who holds a jade sceptre [EA2000.119], Xu’s Zhong Kui is a muscular warrior with a sword. His appearance is especially suited to the wartime, as he angrily rolls up his sleeves as if about to draw his sword to fight with demons. The painting technique used for Zhong’s robe is Chinese, while the realistic details of his face and arms are in Western style. It was also on that tour that Xu painted one of his best known figure paintings, The Foolish Old Man Moves a Mountain, which attempted to raise the morale of the nation in the event of invasion by depicting legendary heroes.
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › South-east Asia › Singapore (place of creation)
- Date
- 1941
- Artist/maker
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Xu Beihong (1895 - 1953) (artist)Xu Beihong (1895 - 1953) (calligrapher)
- Associated people
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Jiancang (active c. 1941) (recipient)
- Material and technique
- ink and colour on paper
- Dimensions
- 104 x 44 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented in honour of the forthcoming 70th birthdays of Jose Mauricio and Angelita Trinidad Reyes, 1995.
- Accession no.
- EA1995.265
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Further reading
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 September-1 December 1996, Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Vainker, Shelagh (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1996), no. 101 on p. 77, pp. 12 & 30, illus. p. 76 fig. 101
Glossary
Zhong Kui
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Zhong Kui
Zhong Kui, or Shōki in Japanese, is a figure from Chinese folklore who appeared to the ailing 8th century Chinese Emperor Xuanzong in a dream and dispatched the demons that were haunting him. Shōki promised the Emperor that he would rid the world of demons.
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Xu Beihong's figures include oils and charcoal drawings in western style, as well as didactic scenes from Chinese legend. Single figures such as this Zhong Kui are less common, yet Xu has retained in this example the musculature and detail more familiar in European than Chinese drawing.
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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