Comparative Study Cf The Art Of Character Painting Between Ren Bonian And Xu Beihong

Ren Bonian and Xu Beihong are both the brilliant jewel in the history of Chinese figure painting. As one of the representation of the Shanghai school carrying on the post heritage and open up the future, Ren blew up a flesh wind in the painting airless at the end of Qing Dynasty, which pushed the traditional Chinese painting to a higher level and affected directly the development of Chinese figure painting. Advocating the realism on figure painting, Xu Beihong finished the transformation of Chinese painting from the traditional style to the modern one. This paper made a comparison between the two master at four aspects:Firstly, the paper points out the purpose and the significance of choosing the topic. Ren and Xu, both rising from the low tide of the figure painting, did valuable exploration of and enormous contribution to the Chinese figure painting. Their practice had general character and individual character. The comparison will help us to understand the law of Chinese painting deeply, and provide theoretic basis for the development of the figure painting in the future.Secondly, this paper analyses Ren and Xu's social and historical backgrounds. As a member of the society in certain period, the artist can't work without the influence of the social and the historical elements. Ren and Xu's life backgrounds influenced their artistic style from beginning to mature period.Thirdly, focusing on the creation of theirs, the paper approaches it from three angles: In the sense of subject matter, theme setting and portrait; in the sense of artistic characteristics, the comparison are made in terms of modeling and artistic conception. In the sense of "mixing traditional and modern concept", the comparison are made in terms of inheriting the tradition and drawing lessons from other art styles .Lastly, the paper summaries the implications that Ren and Xu's practice give us:the study and expression of the artistic creation on figure painting should be reinforced; the artists should bring forth new ideas by inheriting the tradition and using the experience of western culture for reference.