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Cypress Tree

Xu Beihong Chinese
dated 1935
Not on view
Xu Beihong returned to China from Europe in 1927 and headed the art Department of Liangjiang Normal College in Nanjing, later part of the National Central University. Believing that the reform of Chinese painting required the assimilation of Western methods, Xu strongly criticized the slavish imitation of ancient masters and urged artists to "adopt the materials and techniques invented to depict real objects."

Cypress Tree resembles a calligraphic performance in its bravura handling of brush and ink, but the attention to light and shade along the trunk and the layered daubs of ink used to suggest foliage reveal Xu's continued commitment to Western-style realism.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 清/現代　徐悲鴻　古柏圖　軸
  • Title: Cypress Tree
  • Artist: Xu Beihong (Chinese, 1895–1953)
  • Date: dated 1935
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: 38 7/8 x 12 1/2 in. (98.7 x 31.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
  • Object Number: 1986.267.193
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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Seventeen Letters, Xu Beihong Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Seventeen Letters
Xu Beihong
dated 1938–48
Flying Magpie, Xu Beihong Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, China
Flying Magpie
Xu Beihong
dated 1942
Two Poems, Xu Beihong Chinese, Album leaf; ink on paper, China
Two Poems
Xu Beihong
dated 1942
Mice and Candle, Xu Beihong Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, China
Mice and Candle
Xu Beihong
dated 1941
Letter to C.T. Feng
Xu Beihong
August 12, 1941

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