Zhou Lianxia
Zhou in Shanghai, Republic of China in 1937
Zhou in Shanghai, Republic of China in 1937
Born(1906-10-20)October 20, 1906
Xiangtan, Qing dynasty
DiedApril 13, 2000(2000-04-13) (aged 93)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation
  • Painter
  • Poet
  • Writer
Spouse
Xu Wanping 徐晚蘋
​
(m. 1927)​
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese周煉霞
Simplified Chinese周炼霞
Ziyi
Chinese紫宜

Zhou Lianxia (traditional Chinese: 周煉霞; simplified Chinese: 周炼霞; pinyin: Zhōu Liànxiá; Wade–Giles: Chou1 Lien4-Hsia2 ；October 20, 1906 – April 13, 2000), also known as Ziyi (紫宜), was recognized as one of the top women painters, poets and writers in China of the Republican Period, famous for her elegant, traditional Chinese style paintings and poems, mastered after decades of training and scholarship.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Considered by her contemporaries to be talented, poised and beautiful, she became a cultural icon in the 1930's, known as the "Golden Lady of the Country."[13][14][15]

Noted for her wit and humor,[15] Zhou was part of a circle of famous friends and celebrities of the New Culture Movement of that era that included: famous writer, Eileen Chang (張愛玲), top-ranked artists, Zhang Daqian (張大千), Lu Xiaoman (陸小曼), Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻), Qian Shoutie (錢瘦鐵), Song Xunlun (宋訓倫), Wu Qingxia (吴青霞), famous poet, Xu Zhimo (徐志摩), renowned collector, poet and connoisseur Wu Hufan (吳湖帆) and her husband, writer and photographer, Xu Wanping (徐晚蘋).[13][7][15]

In addition to her painting and poetry, Zhou was an early feminist in the women's movement and became a prominent newspaper and magazine artist, columnist and short story writer, penning essays and articles on art, culture, and women, as well as fashion and beauty insights.[7][16]

As an artist, Zhou Lianxia specialized in meticulous traditional Chinese ink and brush paintings that spoke to humanity's balance with nature, featuring delicate flowers, fish, birds and butterflies, as well as elegant ladies.[1][13][10][11] Her painting style was fresh, using bright and clean colors in some works, and elegant, muted tones in others to symbolize and evoke different moods.[1][13][4]

She had a profound understanding of how to pair a specific poem with a painting to enhance both their meanings. She authored many poems that became famous in China, including, 但使兩心相照，無燈無月何妨[17][13][18] and is the author of the "The Collection of Poems嚶友詩集", "A Brief Talk on Learning Poems學詩淺說" (in cooperation with Qu Xieyuan瞿蛻園).[13][11][15]

Prominent galleries and museums worldwide have featured Zhou's work, including the Norton Museum of Art and the Shanghai Museum, and she continues to be a favorite among international collectors.[2][6]

Life

Early life and education

Zhou was born to a wealthy and scholarly family in Xiangtan, Hunan in 1906.[19][20][7] She began studying poetry from the Qing dynasty onwards with private tutor at the early age of three, for which she showed an unusual aptitude, eventually memorizing thousands of classical poems.[20] She began training in classical painting techniques and forms with prominent scholar, Yin Hebai (尹和白).[7]  After Zhou moved to Shanghai with her family at the age of 14, she became official student of prominent painting master, Zheng Dening (郑德凝).[11]At the age of 17, she began advanced poetry instruction under leading master Zhu Guwei (朱古微). She received additional advanced instruction from renowned master, Jiang Meisheng (蔣梅笙)[1][13][19][20][14][15][6] and became best friends with his daughter, the celebrity socialite, Jiang Biwei (蔣碧薇).

Career

One of Zhou's traditional Chinese paintings

In the 1930's, Zhou taught at XiZhen School for Girls (錫珍女校) as an art professor.[17][18] With noted women artists, Feng Wenfeng (馮文鳳), Wu Qingxia (吳青霞), Chen Xiaocui (陳小翠), Li Qiujun (李秋君), Lu Xiaoman (陸小曼), Yang Xuejiu (楊雪玖) and other talented female artists of the era, she co-founded the prestigious Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Society(中國女子書畫會) which still exists today.[17][18][7][21][8][10][16][22] In 1936, her painting won the Gold Medal at the First International Art Exhibition in Canada, and her name was included in the "World Celebrity Dictionary," published in the UK and Italy.[17][18][15]

During the Anti-Japanese War period, writing along with other prominent writers like Eileen Chang (張愛玲), Zhou began to publish inspiring short stories designed to lift the spirits of her fellow Chinese. She was on editorial board for the "Wanxiang萬象" Comprehensive Literary Monthly publication.[17][18]

In the 1950s and 1960's, she was employed as a Professor of Art at the prestigious Shanghai Academy of Chinese Painting (上海中國畫院), where she mainly produced works for the Academy.[19][7][11][22] During the turbulent 1960's, she was blinded in one eye, which curtailed her ability to paint for many years. [17][13][20][18][15][6]

In 1980, Zhou immigrated to America, where she received treatment for her damaged eye and was able to resume painting.[17][13][19][20][18] Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley presented the "Outstanding Women in Art" Honorary Award to her for her lifetime achievement in Art and Culture. 

Personal life

At the age of 18, Zhou's work began to appear in major newspapers.  By the age of 21, she had become a leading artist for the famous Wang Xin Ji Fan shop, which catered to the nobility and elite of Shanghai. In 1927, she married noted photographer and writer, Xu Wanping(徐晚蘋), who she considered her his "soulmate." They had five children together and collaborated on publications of photos and poems. [17][13][19][18][6]

In 1949, Xu took a short business trip to Formosa to help lead China's effort to take back the postal communication system on the island from the Japanese. Tragically ill-timed, this short trip caused Zhou and Xu to become inadvertently separated from one another for over 30 years when the borders between China and Formosa were closed in 1949.[17][13][19][18][15][6]

Forced to support their five children on her own, Zhou continued painting and writing, always seeking new and innovative avenues of expression.[19][18] She continued to collaborate with her friends Lu Xiaoman(陸小曼）, Zhang Daqian (張大千), Qian Shoutie (錢瘦鐵）, Song Xunlun (宋訓倫）and Wu Hufan (吳湖帆).  Zhou and Wu created many exceptional art works together during the 1950's, including the famous "Lotus and Mandarin Ducks," painting and poem, which is much sought after by collectors worldwide. [17][1][13][18][6]

Zhou was reunited with her long lost husband Xu Wanping, in America in 1980. [17][13][19][20][18][15] They lived together in Los Angeles with their children, Xu Zhaonan (徐昭南) and Xu Yuzhong (徐昱中), and grandchildren, including noted film producer, Evelyn Xu (徐汪瑒), until Xu's passing at the age of 95 and Zhou, at the age of 93.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "画家周炼霞：画如其人，文如其人_吴湖帆". www.sohu.com. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "A Pair of Couplets by My Father Mr. Soong Hsün-leng (訓倫公) and Aunt Chou Lien-hsia (周鍊霞伯母)". www.chinese-heritage.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Sold at Auction: Lianxia Zhou". www.invaluable.com. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Legacy of three women painters from Shanghai[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Norton Museum of Art | The Other Half of the Sky: Twentieth-Century Chinese Women Painters". www.norton.org. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 OctoberCMS (October 8, 2021). "Norton Museum of Art | Curator Conversation / The Other Half of the Sky: Twentieth-Century Chinese Women Painters". www.norton.org. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Andrews, Julia F.; Shen, Kuiyi (1999). "Traditionalism as a Modern Stance: The Chinese Women's Calligraphy and Painting Society". Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. 11 (1): 1–29. ISSN 1520-9857.
  8. 1 2 Lu, Danlin (1937). Jieshao jiwei nü shuhuajia 介紹幾位女書畫家 Introducing several female calligraphers and painters (in Chinese) (Yijing no. 33: 35–40 ed.).
  9. ↑ Tu, Shiping (1968). Shanghai chunqiu 上海春秋 Annals of Shanghai (in Chinese). Shanghai: Zhongguo tushu zazhi gongsi, rpt. Hong Kong: Zhongguo tushu bianshi guan.
  10. 1 2 3 Laing, Ellen Johnston (1998). "Front Matter." An Index to Reproductions of Paintings by Twentieth-Century Chinese Artists,". www.jstor.org. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Kung, Chi-Hsien (1992). Chung-kuo tang-tai mei-shu-chia jen-ming lu 中国当代美术家人名录 (in Chinese). Shanghai People's Art Press.
  12. ↑ Yun, Ruxin. Minguo shuhuajia huizhuan 民國書畫家穩傳 Biographies of Chinese painters and calligraphers (in Chinese). Taibei: Taiwan Commercial Press.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "绝代才女周炼霞：品貌双全，诗文书画俱佳的"金闺国士"". m.thepaper.cn. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  14. 1 2 "风云际会三个人：陈抱一、周鍊霞、王道源 | 崇正18秋拍 – 雪花新闻". www.xuehua.us. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "才貌双全｜民国女画家周炼霞（作品100幅）". www.sohu.com. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  16. 1 2 Sung, Doris Ha Lin (2016). "Redefining Female Talent: Chinese Women Artists in the National and Global Art Worlds, 1900s – 1970s". A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 网易 (August 12, 2021). "1946年丈夫赴台无消息，周炼霞独自抚养5孩，30年后收到美国来信". www.163.com. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "In 1946, there was no news". www.min.news. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "History class: Zhou Lianxia, a celebrity from the Republic of China". www.min.news. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Her husband went to Taiwan for work". www.min.news. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  21. ↑ ZGMSNJ: Zhongguo meishu nianjian 中国美术年签 Year book of Chinese art, 1947 (in Chinese). Shanghai shi wenhua yundong weiyuanhui. 1948.
  22. 1 2 Lei, Zhengmin (1989). 中国现代美术家人名大辞典 A great biographic dictionary of Chinese artists (in Chinese). Xi An: Shan xi ren min mei shu chu ban she.
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