Background
He was born in Changchow, Kiangsu, China in 1895.
刘海粟
He was born in Changchow, Kiangsu, China in 1895.
Following his graduation from a primary school at Changchow at age of 13, Mr. Liu came to Shanghai and attended a Middle School.
At age of 16, Hai-sou Liu established the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. In 1913 he gave a maiden exposition of his productions at Shanghai. In 1916, the Academy of Fine Arts (now known as Shanghai College of Fine Arts.) held an exposition at which his nude paintings, were first exhibited, which aroused considerable adverse criticisms and one critic stinnatised him at the Rebel of Artsy.
In 1917 he attended the First Exposition of Japanese Imperial Fine Arts Museum and remained in Japan for several years to study arts. In 1920, he lectured on modern arts at the Peking Government University and Peking Hiirh Normal School and in 1927 he paid his second visit to Japan and held an exhibition of his paintings there. Then, in 1929 Mr. Liu was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to study art education in Europe and at the same time to conduct further research into European arts.
In this capacity, he visited the arts academies and galleries in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. His works were qualified at the Salon d'Automne and in 1930-1931, were again Qualified at the gallery of Le Salon des Tuileries. His representative productions “Snow of Luxemburg” and “Gem of First Water” were purchased by the French Government. In March 31, he gave an exposition at the Frankfurt University Institute of Chinese Studies in Germany. Then he returned to China in September, 1931.
In the Autumn of 1932, under the auspices of the City Government of Greater Shanghai Municipality, he held an exposition of his representative oieces at the Ying Shih Memorial Hall, 7 Kweichow Road. Hai-sou Liu again visited Europe in 1934, commissioned by the Executive Yuan to give a series of expositions of Chinese paintings in the leading European cities, and returned to China in summer of 1935. Besides being a painter, he was also an art critic and writer author of the following works on painting: “New Impressions of Modern Arts in Japan,” “How to Learn Painting' "Hai-Sou's Painting" and “Hai-Sou’s New Compositions* “Six Principles on Chinese Painting” which has been translated into French by Prof. Louis Laloy of the University of Paris, “Hai-Sou’s Series (in six volumes) and The World's Famous Compositions of Painting (in five volumes).