Plantain and Bird

Details

XU BEIHONG (1895-1953) AND CHEN WEN HSI (1906-1992)
Plantain and Bird
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
130.5 x 34 cm. (51 3⁄8 x 13 3⁄8 in.)
Inscribed and signed by Chen Wen Hsi, with two seals
Titleslip inscribed by Loh Cheng Chuan, with one seal

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.

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