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I just bought 2 horse paintings with signature and seals of the artist Xu Beihong. I would like to authenticate the paintings if possible.

They are large, well painted, and in good condition despite foxing. You can view the photos I took at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23676403@N07/sets/72157632117083243/

Both were framed by Century Art & Frames, West Palm Beach, which went out of business in 1984, so the paintings are at least 28 years old. This is public record on the Florida State website.

I removed the painting of the drinking horse from the frame to take better pictures and to inspect for any additional seals/marks.

The painted area measures 40.5" x 14.0". This seems to be consistant with the size used by Beihong.

The painting I unframed is of a horse drink....a similar example can be found on the Xu Beihong foundation website http://www.xubeihong.org/Common/drinking.htm

There are 2 types of foxing....the spots and a band that goes across the top of the painting.

The band was caused by the matting used when framed in 1984 which covered to top 4" or so of the painting.

What I find interesting is that THE SPOTS MUST HAVE EXISTED AT THE TIME THE PAINTING WAS FRAMED IN 1984, as the spots occur in areas of the painting exposed to light, and after 1984, the top 4" were no longer exposed to light due to the matting.

While this does not prove it is a genuine piece,it does prove the painting is older than 1984, and it begs to question, WHY WOULD SOMEONE PAY TO FRAME A PAINTING THAT HAS FOXING IF IT IS ONLY A REPRODUCTION?

In 1984, how much would an original Xu Beihong painting be worth?

The best I can tell is that his paintings would be worth around $3,000-5000 back then, so perhaps whomever owned them did not see it was worth the money to have the foxing removed.

There are no additional seals/marks, but you can clearly see the painting was mounted as a scroll, and the silk used on the borders of the scroll is woven in a prunus flower and cracked ice pattern and of nice quality.

For the time being, I am leaving the other painting in its frame.

I welcome all comments and hope to discover the as much as I can about the authenticity of the paintings.

Thank you.







Link :Basic photos of my 2 paintings still in the frame

While not in a position to pass any judgment on your paintings, there certainly were many, many imitations around of Xu Beihong and other well known painters in the early 1980s. Just because we weren't aware of much about the Chinese market for 20th century paintings in 1984 doesn't mean that it didn't exist, or that Chinese students and others had stopped actively copying and in some cases forging for sale the works of artists they respected including Xu. You are hoping this is genuine, but speculating about why someone would frame paper with foxing doesn't make it genuine. (Some people frame the kindergarten pictures that their kids make.)

just took a look at the link to your other photos, which make clear that neither painting is by Xu. ironically it's not problems with the iconic horses but the bamboo in one and the trees in the other are of low quality in terms of their brushwork; Xu was a better artist than this.

Found some more info a few days ago....

I am posting comparision images of my painting of horse & tree and a near identical painting sold by Art Curial in France for about $103,000.

Here's a link to Art Curial's auction record:
http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2111+++++158+&refno=10375650

The size, signature, and seal are identical, with only very minor differences in the manner of the horse and tree. Preovenance given on the Art Curial painting is that it was purchased in Pekin in 1983 and has been in a private colletion up until the sale - this seems more than coincidental that my painting was frame in 1983-84, the same period in which the Art Curial painting was purchased.

I read that Xu Beihong exhibited extensively around the world from 1938-1943 in order to raise money for Chinese soldiers injured during their war with Japan.

During this prolific period of painting, would this explain duplicate paintings, where he (like many artists do) painted the same scene more than once (especially if it was a popular among art buyers)?

Thoughts?

Excellent work! Well spotted. One is a copy of the other, or both are copies of a third (perhaps more likely). Xu Beihong did repeat the same content over and over again in various poses (the horses of course, but also magpies, and cats), so I have at this point almost totally lost interest in him, but this is a great comparison. in my view this is NOT Xu Beihong making two different images of the same composition, however, as the two images, calligraphy, and seals are far too similar for the same artist to be repeating as closely as these are. I'm sure that Xu could knock out a dozen of these horses in an hour, but I think that the differences from one to another would be greater than seen here.

I have been reading the chapter on Xu Beihong in the book, BETWEEN TWO CULTURES - the book was published by the Yale University Press for the Metropolitan Museaum of Art, NY. The book discusses several of the most important 20th c. Chinese painters.

According to the book, Xu Beihong spent 8 years in Europe being classically trained by Francois Flemeng, , Arthur Kampf, and Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, all Western masters of anatomical (portrait) painting.

Because of this intense study, Xu was able to master the exactness of Western anatomical form. This might explain the near identical nature of both paintings and also explains why most copies of Xu's horse paintings are so easy to spot....it takes tremendous training and skill to paint the anatomy of the horse correctly.

The chapter goes on to explain that even with his training, painting in tradition Chinese brush presented a challenge that required Xu Beihong to repaint multiple copies of the same scene

Xu Beihong is quoted as saying "although I expended much effort, I found that some of the horses' hooves were still not quite correct. Chinese painting is different from (Western) oil painting, which can be scraped off and repainted. Thus my method was to repeat the composition many times."

The chapter provides the example of Xu's painting, Man With Horse (1924), which hangs in the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum. The final painting was his 17th attempt.

Perhaps my painting was one of many attempts.

The key here is the signature and calligraphy, as it is EXACTLY the same, which is impossible without it being copied mechanically. It is simply impossible for any human being to sign their name and write something with exactly the same pattern, one work, one character, etc... maybe, not not an entire sequence. From what I can see in your images, the calligraphy and signature are the exact same, so I agree with the comments about one or the other having to be a copy, or both are a copy of a third. I am working on a Xu Beihong for a client right now... I examine the brush strokes of the subject matter, and the calligraphy and seals in detail in order to start to prove or disprove a case for authenticity. You would be welcome to contact me privately if you like. I am a credentialed appraiser through the International Society of Appraisers, I also consult on and broker art and antiques, and specialize in Asian art and antiques, antiquities, and fine western art. I wish I had better news for you, but I think you have received excellent replies from this group. The only way for me to know for sure is to examine Xu works in person in detail and often I even collaborate with my colleagues on pieces that may be very important to make sure of our conclusions. Who knows, maybe you have the original, and the other is a copy! It would be a nice find if that was the case. good luck, Greg.

My family also has a Xu Beihong horse painting, which has a 1940's gallery sticker on the back and was in possesion of my grandmother in London in the 1950's. Would ours be likely to be a fake? We have been unable to trace the gallery...must have long closed down. It was given to my grandmother as gift in the 1950's.Should be get it authenticated by the museuem? Were there many fakes around 60 years ago?

hard to say without seeing it. fakes have always been a problem in Chinese painting, literally for hundreds and hundreds of years. some painters were faked well within their lifetimes. in fact a number of artists' "work" has only survived in the form of copies, as well as fakes. Certainly the museum is a good place to go for advice.

Yes..thats what I have told my parents they must do. Thanks.

A couple of comments:

First, from the Wikipedia article on foxing:

"The causes of foxing are not well understood. One theory is that foxing is caused by a fungal growth on the paper. Another theory is that foxing is caused by the effect on certain papers of the oxidation of iron, copper, or other substances in the pulp or rag from which the paper was made. It is possible that multiple factors are involved.

High humidity may contribute to foxing."

In short, foxing is not light related. The foxing under the mat may have occurred after matting.

Second, the mat appears acidic and is damaging your painting - the band across the top is not foxing. It should be removed.

Regards,
Stan

Tim, Have you had this painting authenticated yet?

I put the piece into auction and let the market decide for me. Apparently, a nice copy that brought approx. $1000.

This still does not prove/disprove the authenticity given the absence of any real provenance and the abundance of forgeries circulating in the market.

i urgently need to do an authentication request how to do that or how to contact his widow ???!!

Anyone know of a professional authenticator and appraiser?

for what, specifically?

To determine if a Xu Beihong is authentic or not.

You might try contacting his daughter Fangfang here: https://beihongchinaarts.com/contact-xu-fangfang/

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