Qin Xuanfu’s Art Productions and Art Activities
Qin Xuanfu (1906 -1998) was an art producer, a fine art historian and an educator for fine arts. He was born in Guilin, Guangxi, China and graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing. From 1930 to 1934, he studied painting and fine art history at the French National School of Fine Arts, the studio of Lucien Simon, the Ecole du Louvre and the Institute of Archeological Research of the University of Paris. He was a founding member of the Chinese Students’ Art Association in France in 1933. Qin Xuanfu’s oil paintings, such as Portrait of Madam Kapanzie，Merry Go-Round and The Court Lady were exhibited at the Paris Spring Salon and French Independent Salon (Salon des Independents). Meanwhile he traveled extensively in many countries such as: Great Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany to see famous Western paintings and conducted research in Western fine arts history. He returned to China in 1934 and become a professor teaching Western oil painting and Western fine arts history in the Peking Art School, Tsinghua University, National Academy of Arts and Art Department of the National Central University in China. In 1936 he became an editor of the Art Weekly section of Tianjin Ta Kung Daily News. In 1941 he became a special member of the Art Education Committee of the Ministry of Education, Chinese National Government. In 1952, Qin Xuanfu worked as a professor of oil painting and Western fine arts history in the Fine Arts Department of Nanjing Normal University. Later, he become the Dean of the Fine Arts Department from 1985-1987. Qin Xuanfu played a number of roles in Professional organizations, such as the Vice Director of the Fine Arts Research Institute in China, the Member of the Council of the China Artists Association, Vice President of the Jiangsu Artists Association, and member of the Editorial Committee of the Ci Hai Encyclopedia and Chinese Encyclopedia.
The First Period
During his stay in Paris, Qin Xuanfu’s oil painting “The Portrait of Madame Kapanzie,” was highly praised by Mr. Xu Beihong, who recommended this painting in his letter to his friends. This painting was selected for exhibition at the French Salon. Mr. Qin’s other two paintings, “The Court Lady” and “Merry Go-Round” were also selected for exhibition at French Salon, des Independents, where, both of them were well received. (click for more details)
The Second Period
A few characteristics of the second stage of Mr. Qin Xuanfu’s art creation are as follows: with enthusiasm and the firm belief in realism in art creation, Mr. Qin Xuanfu made great achievements. His style is more joyful, more toward nationalization, more straightforward, and more mature than before. (click for more details)
The Third Period
As for Mr. Qin’s third stage, Mr. Shao Dazheng commented,” His style is more straightforward, moving towards more freedom, and more feelings.” Another artist, Song Zhenying also commented, “He was no longer restricting himself to modeling and frames, but was more engaged in expressing his feelings. He painted where his feelings went and his paintings are full of life. The colors are bright and beautiful and the strokes are smooth and daring.”(click for more details)
The Original Script in Chinese: Qiu Zhongyi, Zhiyun Qin
The English Translation: Fan Jianing, Zhining Chin,
The Final English Editor: Dr. Myrna Klobucha