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Lot Essay
Galloping Horse was painted by Xu Beihong in 1940 and presented to Jinglu School, a boarding school near Newton founded to promote Chinese cultural education. Its co-founder and principal, Huang Menggui (1885-1965), was a close friend and important patron of Xu Beihong. After arriving in Singapore in 1939, Huang established the school with local Chinese leaders. Xu strongly supported the institution, attending its opening ceremony in 1941, lecturing there regularly, and inscribing the school’s signboard (Fig. 1).
The present work was executed during Xu’s stay at Santiniketan, India, following his departure from Singapore at the end of 1939. Inspired by his travels through the Ganges region, Darjeeling, and the Himalayas, he produced a number of important works. Exceptional in scale, this painting ranks among the largest of Xu’s horse subjects. Using a bold square composition and vigorous brushwork, Xu captured the horse in full gallop, conveying extraordinary energy and freedom while emphasizing expressive form over detail.
The horse also resonated with Jinglu School’s ideals of perseverance and self-cultivation. A poetic colophon by Lin Qianshi, dated 1962, records the work’s remarkable history. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore in 1942, the painting was lost amid wartime turmoil. It was later acquired by Lin Xueda (1893-1963), founding principal of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, who eventually returned it to Huang Menggui after the war. In recognition of long-standing contributions to the local Chinese community, Huang subsequently presented the painting to the father of the present collector.
Privately preserved for nearly eight decades, the work embodies Xu Beihong’s close association with Jinglu School and stands as a rare testament to the intertwined histories of Chinese art and education in Nanyang. Today, it re-emerges with an unbroken story of friendship, patronage, and preservation.
The present work was executed during Xu’s stay at Santiniketan, India, following his departure from Singapore at the end of 1939. Inspired by his travels through the Ganges region, Darjeeling, and the Himalayas, he produced a number of important works. Exceptional in scale, this painting ranks among the largest of Xu’s horse subjects. Using a bold square composition and vigorous brushwork, Xu captured the horse in full gallop, conveying extraordinary energy and freedom while emphasizing expressive form over detail.
The horse also resonated with Jinglu School’s ideals of perseverance and self-cultivation. A poetic colophon by Lin Qianshi, dated 1962, records the work’s remarkable history. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore in 1942, the painting was lost amid wartime turmoil. It was later acquired by Lin Xueda (1893-1963), founding principal of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, who eventually returned it to Huang Menggui after the war. In recognition of long-standing contributions to the local Chinese community, Huang subsequently presented the painting to the father of the present collector.
Privately preserved for nearly eight decades, the work embodies Xu Beihong’s close association with Jinglu School and stands as a rare testament to the intertwined histories of Chinese art and education in Nanyang. Today, it re-emerges with an unbroken story of friendship, patronage, and preservation.