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.
Like her political career, He Xiangning’s artistic career also began in Japan. In 1909, she entered the Private Women's School of Fine Arts in Japan, where she studied painting. She learned Shanshui landscape and bird-and-flower painting under Hashidate Shisen, and the painting of animals such as lions and tigers under palace painter Tanaka Raisho.
He Xiangning’s artistic creations were inextricably linked to her highly eventful life. Through her many artistic activities and creative practices over the years, she formed her own unique style. She 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. Mao Zedong’s words of praise for her are quite fitting: “The works of this distinguished painter are full of the will to struggle.” 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.
The He Xiangning Art Museum houses approximately 2,000 works by He Xiangning, covering a variety of themes including fierce beasts, landscapes, flowers, and the "Four Noble Ones" (plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum). He Xiangning’s paintings are not only extraordinary creations of an artist but also the externalization of her spirit. For this special exhibition, our museum has carefully selected 50 works from the collection and divided them into four sections, corresponding respectively to Chen Yi’s inscriptions: "Clear Spring Rushes Softly Through Stone Gaps", "Green Bamboo Exudes More Serene Leisure", "Painting Trees, Valuing Noble Purity", and "Painting Flowers to Treasure Its Unique Eminence". The exhibition will also display relevant historical documents and poems, presenting He Xiangning’s diverse artistic explorations. We hope that visitors will not only feel the joy of aesthetic appreciation from the paintings but also achieve spiritual resonance.
