He Xiangning(1878-1972), born in Hong Kong, was one of the great female activists and artists in modern Chinese history. She often called herself  the “Cotton Villager” after her family’s ancestral village in Guangdong Province.

In 1903, she traveled with her husband Liao Zhongkai to study in Japan. She joined the Tongmenghui(Chinese United League) in 1905, and followed Sun Yat-sen into the efforts for the Xinhai Revolution and the fight against warlords. She then dedicated herself to the Chinese democratic revolution. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, she held a variety of official posts, including Member of the Central People’s Government Committee, Chair of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, Chair of the Nationalist Party Revolution Committee, Honorary Chair of the All-China Women’s Federation, Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Chair of the China Artists Association.

Served as chairman of the Chinese artists association, He Xiangning developed a magnificent painting style with profound ideas, often expressing her emotions and aspirations in depictions of pines, plum blossoms, lions, tigers and mountains, forming a striking portrait of her seventy year revolutionary career. Inscriptions by many Chinese artists and national leaders add weight and significance to many of her works. Her paintings are a treasure of the Chinese people.

Under the context of the history of modern Chinese art, He Xiangning’s works, especially the works in her later years when she was living in Beijing, could be considered as a special case of the development of the history of modern Chinese art. Creating art for more than 60 years, He Xiangning’s works always have a close connection with her life of being an social activist, which vice verse shapes her art creation. Through the 60 years, by traveling around the China and building connections with different social organizations, such as South Society(Nan Shen) and Friends of coldness(Han Zhi You She), and the artists from Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Beijing and other cities, He Xiangning created many exquisite collaborative paintings. As we can see, most of the artists He Xiangning collaborated with were living in Beijing and the regions south of the Yangtze River, especially in Beiing, these artists composed more than half of the Modern Beijing art circle, which made the collaborative works of He Xiangning and the others artists during her time in Beijing have uncommon meaning. When studying these works, we could compare them with the other collaborative paintings in the history of modern Chinese art, for instance “The Northwest sketches”, “Jinggang Mountains series”,“The Northeast sketches” and “Eastern Europe sketches” and regard it as a precious historical memory about the collaborative paintings of the art history after the founding of the people's Republic of China. From the perspective of a case study of modern art history, we hope that by showcasing these works with the theme of Collaboration Art Creation to further the study of He Xiangning Art.

Based on above reason, He Xiangning Art Museum and Beijing Fine Art Academy jointly curated the exhibition,The New Paintings of Flowing Water and High Mountains——He Xiangning and the Beijing Art Circle in New Chinese Time. And by combining the academic resource of these two organizers to boost the research of the case study of the history of modern Chinese art as well as He Xiangning Art. Hope audiences could experience the elegance of art and the weight of history while appreciating the art works and documentations.

Chinese Artists Association, He Xiangning Art Museum, Beijing Fine Art Academy

2020.Dec.18th