Hu Wensui Art Museum
The Hu Wensui Art Museum, located in Gucheng Park in Huangpu District, Shanghai, officially opened on February 24, 2021. The museum is housed in a historic building, the Qianye Guild Hall, which was originally built during the Qing dynasty's Guangxu era (1875–1908). Its founding stemmed from a 2019 donation by Hu Wensui's family to the Huangpu District government of nearly a thousand of his calligraphy works and manuscripts.
Hu Wensui (July 24, 1918 – February 19, 1999), a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, was a celebrated contemporary Chinese calligrapher. He studied under Shen Yinmo as his close disciple. During his lifetime, he held the positions of First-Grade Artist at the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Director of the China Calligraphers Association, Member of the Presidium of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association, and Researcher of the Shanghai Institute of Culture and History.
Situated beside Yu Garden, one of Shanghai's most celebrated historic and cultural districts, the museum itself is also a courtyard-style traditional structure. Today it is hosting an exhibition of modern and contemporary Shanghai School (Haipai) art. Though the exhibition space is not large, it brings together more than forty precious original works by masters including Ren Bonian, Xu Gu, Yu Yue, Li Ruiqing, Wu Changshuo, Shen Yinmo, Qian Hui'an, Pu Hua, Fu Baoshi, Liu Haisu, Xu Beihong, Wang Zhen, Wu Hufan, Wang Fu'an, Zheng Wuchang, Xie Zhiliu, Wu Guandai, Wu Daiqiu, Wu Shixian, Feng Chaoran, Lu Hui, Ni Tian, Wu Qingxia, Zhang Dazhuang, Tang Yun, He Tianjian, Qian Shoutie, Lu Xiaoman, Guan Liang, Lu Yanshao, Lai Chusheng, Ying Yeping, Jiang Hanting, Zhu Qizhan, Bai Jiao, Chen Peiqiu, Xie Zhiliu, Chen Qiucao, Cheng Shifa, Liu Dazhai, Qian Juntao, Wu Yezhou, Hu Wensui, Shi Nanchi, Zhou Huijun, and Hu Kao. Together, these works attest to the pivotal role these modern and contemporary masters played in advancing Shanghai School painting and calligraphy.
In the exhibition area at the rear of the museum, there is also a display of Western-style works — original oil paintings and signed prints by Liu Haisu, Yan Wenliang, Pang Xunqin, Zhu Dequn, Wu Guanzhong, Zao Wou-Ki, Li Yongsen, Tang Yunyu, Zhou Bichu, Yu Yunjie, Ren Weiyin, Guan Liang, Ye Qianyu, Min Xiwen, Pan Sitong, Zhang Gongdu, Ha Ding, Chen Yifei, and Chen Junde — capturing the inspiration and creative sparks that emerged as these artists engaged with and learned from Western painting. There is, of course, also a section devoted to the commercialization of art in old Shanghai — vintage commercial posters, picture-story books (lianhuanhua), and advertisements. So while the exhibition is modest in scale, it is nonetheless a gathering of luminaries that forms a coherent system of its own.
Among this long list of names, I came across "Lu Xiaoman" — the socialite famed for her entanglement with the poet Xu Zhimo, yet in truth a woman of genuine talent. Her paintings and calligraphy carry an air of refined elegance utterly free of vulgarity, compelling the viewer to linger.
The display board at the front of the main hall features photographs of all these painters, and it left a deep impression on me. It is a pity, however, that the condition of some of the works is rather worrying: even though these paintings are at most just over a century old, the creasing and warping are still heart-breaking to see. Compared with how Tang and Song masterpieces are preserved at the Shanghai Museum's Pudong branch, I do wish the museum could do more for these works.
The exhibition takes about an hour to view, and admission is free.
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