Three newly collected paintings are on exhibition in Hexiangning Art Gallery. Among them, Enjoying the Snow, a work by well-known artists He Xiangning and Fu Baoshi, is a really precious piece of work.
Since its establishment in 1997, the gallery has accepted quite a lot of donated works. Enjoying the Snow is its most recent addition.
Last year, the work, originally collected by the family of He Xiangning, appeared in the list of the autumn auctions in China Guardian, with the bottom price set within 480,000 to 680,000 yuan. At the request of the He Xiangning Art Gallery, the work was finally removed from the auction and given to He Xiangning Art Gallery for exhibition.
The picture was co-produced by He Xiangning and Fu Baoshi, two masters of traditional Chinese painting, in 1962. On the 132cm by 37cm paper, He drew the snowy willows, and Fu drew the figure of a woman and the surrounding scenery.
Dressed in red gown, the woman in the picture knits her willowy eyebrows slightly, as if absorbed in thought or in sorrow. Behind the woman, stony slopes and faraway mountains painted in light ink and simple strokes set off the image of falling snow and rain.
At the beginning of the new year, He Xiangning Art Gallery exhibited its three cherished works — Red Plum Blossoms, Riches and Cheers, and Enjoying the Snow — all painted by He Xiangning, to the public for the first time.
The gallery will allegedly bring forth its collection of paintings co-created by He Xiangning and her son Liao Chengzhi within the year. Until then we can appreciate the romanticism and humor in the creations made by the mother and son, both of whom were revolutionary soldiers.
(Southcn.com January 15, 2003)
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