life of guangzhou

To commemorate the 110th birthday of painter Situ Qiao (司徒乔), the Guangzhou Art Museum's exhibition halls will share 19 of his pieces from Jan. 18 to Jun. 28. One of them was his last painting, called the "Harvest of Persimmon Garden," which he created to celebrate 40th anniversary of the victory of the Russian October Revolution and highlighting the joy of a happy life.

Situ Qiao, known as an outstanding representative of the Lingnan School of painting in the 20th century, created many sketches, gouaches, oil paintings, watercolors and illustrations of common or poor people.

Situ Qiao was born in Kaiping, Guangdong Province in 1902. His works were appreciated by Lu Xun, a renowned Chinese writer and revolutionist, for illustrating the life of the common people.

Situ Qiao studied in France, but was forced to drop out due to a lack of funds. When he came back to China, he was hired by the Lingnan University. Unfortunately, he contracted tuberculosis and died in 1958.

In his life and career, he was famous for creating great works of realism. In 1946, he went to Guangdong Province, Hunan Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hubei Province and Henan Province to record the famine in his paintings.

When: Jan. 18 to Jun. 28, 2012
Where: Guangzhou Art Museum 广州艺术博物院
Address: No. 13, Luhu Lu, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou 广州市越秀区麓湖路13号
free of charge

(By Zhang Chun, Stephen Roberts)