Cheval

Xu Beihong (1895–1953), a native of Yixing in Jiangsu province, was a leading architect of modern Chinese art education and a pioneering figure in the synthesis of Chinese and Western painting. He studied in Paris, notably at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and at private academies, where he developed a rigorous command of academic realism and anatomical structure, including a close study of the horse. Upon his return to China, he advocated a reformist approach that preserved the strengths of tradition while integrating selected elements of Western art, forging a highly individual style that combines structural precision with the expressive vitality of ink painting.
The horse became his most emblematic subject. Unlike the restrained and often static depictions of earlier traditions, Xu Beihong’s horses are rendered in full motion, with sweeping manes and lifted hooves, conveying energy, freedom, and inner resolve. During the years of the Sino Japanese War, such images took on added resonance, often understood as expressions of national endurance and aspiration.
The present Running Horse, dated to the Mid Autumn Festival of 1943, belongs to the most intense phase of the conflict. The horse, shown straining forward with force and dignity, is executed with broad washes of ink to model volume and musculature, while the mane and tail are articulated in swift, dry strokes that heighten the sense of movement. The work exemplifies Xu Beihong’s mature manner, in which Western anatomical discipline and the spontaneity of Chinese ink painting are brought into compelling harmony.