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Property from the Family Collection of Loh Cheng Chuan, Penang (Lots 248-251)
XU BEIHONG (1895-1953)
Galloping Horse
Details
XU BEIHONG (1895-1953)
Galloping Horse
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
81 x 57.1 cm. (31 7⁄8 x 22 ½ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dated thirty-second year (of the Republic, 1943)
Titleslip by Cui Dadi (1903-1974), with one seal
Dated summer, xinmao year (1951)
NOTE:
Cui Dadi, whose ancestral home was Beijing, was a first generation calligrapher in Singapore and Malaysia. In his early years, he travelled throughout Europe and Southeast Asia, holding solo calligraphy exhibitions. He later relocated to Singapore in 1965.
Galloping Horse
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
81 x 57.1 cm. (31 7⁄8 x 22 ½ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dated thirty-second year (of the Republic, 1943)
Titleslip by Cui Dadi (1903-1974), with one seal
Dated summer, xinmao year (1951)
NOTE:
Cui Dadi, whose ancestral home was Beijing, was a first generation calligrapher in Singapore and Malaysia. In his early years, he travelled throughout Europe and Southeast Asia, holding solo calligraphy exhibitions. He later relocated to Singapore in 1965.
Further details
Loh Cheng Chuan (1907-1966), sobriquet Zishi, was a renowned art collector in Southeast Asia. He was the founding chairman of the Penang Art Society and was passionate about poetry, calligraphy, seal carving, and epigraphy. Loh was also a Chinese medicine practitioner, and his strong ethics were highly regarded by friends in Malaysia and overseas.In the early 1940s, Xu Beihong visited Penang to organize an art exhibition to aid China in its resistance against Japan. During this time, he met Loh Cheng Chuan, and their connection was immediate and profound. They became close friends, forming a bond that transcended borders and time. Even after Xu Beihong returned to China, their friendship remained strong, with correspondence and exchanged artworks serving as tokens of their friendship.
After the war, Loh Cheng Chuan developed strong friendships with overseas artists such as Zhao Shao’ang, Yang Shanshen, and Zhang Daqian. He contributed significantly to the local art scene and actively promoted Chinese culture. Zhang Daqian praised him for having a “warm heart like the ancients,” he was often referred to as a key patron and promoter of art in northern Malaysia. Loh assembled an extensive personal art collection and considered art his life’s mission, making him a prominent figure in the northern region of Malaysia.
This collection features six works from Loh’s collection (lots 248-251, 111-112), most bearing dedications, serving as valuable testimonies to his interactions with the art world. The Ink Bamboo / Calligraphic Couplet was created and gifted by Xu Beihong in 1941 during his stay in Penang, recording the profound friendship and close companionship between the two during that period. Galloping Horse is a rare example of the artist’s coloured horse paintings, exuding dynamic power and remarkable lifelikeness. Autumn Rain in Sichuan stands as an exceptionally rare landscape depiction by the artist. Both pieces were exquisitely mounted by Loh, who further sought the titleslip from Cui Dadi, a pioneer calligrapher in Malaysia, underscoring the high regard in which he held these works. Qi Baishi’s Red Flowers also bears a dedication, possibly a gift presented upon introduction by Xu Beihong following his return to China. The works by Deng Fen and Yang Shanshen are exemplary pieces from Hong Kong. Yang’s work retains its original mounting, with subtle pinholes at the edges, suggesting it was probably once part of an exhibition Yang brought to Malaysia. These six works, diverse in subject matter and exceptionally accomplished, attest to Loh’s distinguished taste and the superior standard of his collection.
After the war, Loh Cheng Chuan developed strong friendships with overseas artists such as Zhao Shao’ang, Yang Shanshen, and Zhang Daqian. He contributed significantly to the local art scene and actively promoted Chinese culture. Zhang Daqian praised him for having a “warm heart like the ancients,” he was often referred to as a key patron and promoter of art in northern Malaysia. Loh assembled an extensive personal art collection and considered art his life’s mission, making him a prominent figure in the northern region of Malaysia.
This collection features six works from Loh’s collection (lots 248-251, 111-112), most bearing dedications, serving as valuable testimonies to his interactions with the art world. The Ink Bamboo / Calligraphic Couplet was created and gifted by Xu Beihong in 1941 during his stay in Penang, recording the profound friendship and close companionship between the two during that period. Galloping Horse is a rare example of the artist’s coloured horse paintings, exuding dynamic power and remarkable lifelikeness. Autumn Rain in Sichuan stands as an exceptionally rare landscape depiction by the artist. Both pieces were exquisitely mounted by Loh, who further sought the titleslip from Cui Dadi, a pioneer calligrapher in Malaysia, underscoring the high regard in which he held these works. Qi Baishi’s Red Flowers also bears a dedication, possibly a gift presented upon introduction by Xu Beihong following his return to China. The works by Deng Fen and Yang Shanshen are exemplary pieces from Hong Kong. Yang’s work retains its original mounting, with subtle pinholes at the edges, suggesting it was probably once part of an exhibition Yang brought to Malaysia. These six works, diverse in subject matter and exceptionally accomplished, attest to Loh’s distinguished taste and the superior standard of his collection.
Brought to you by
Carmen Shek Cerne (石嘉雯)
Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Paintings