Author(s)

Yan Xia, Shiwei Shi

Corresponding Author

Yan Xia

Abstract

The formation of artists’ ideas is inseparable from the social background, which cannot be separated from the specific historical environment. In Bei-hong Xu’s era, “the spreading of western learning introduced into China” was a major social trend. The western realistic spirit was respected by elites from various disciplines, and became the direction which guided the transformation of traditional Chinese painting. Influenced by this thought, Bei-hong Xu started to learn western realistic painting and determined to improve Chinese painting. Finally he realized the “transformation of Realism from the skill to the ideal”. This paper starts from the background of the times and analyzes the formation and maturity of Bei-hong Xu’s artistic viewpoint, so as to explain the “transformation from the skill to the ideal”. Then authors return to the background of the times and analyze the significance of that transformation.

Keywords

Bei-Hong Xu, Realism, Eastern Studies Introduced to the West