Guo Yinglin was an artist admired by Chang Shuhong.
Chang Shuhong mentioned more than once that
Guo Yinglin was the best artist at that time,
However, none of us have seen his paintings.
All of them were lost due to historical reasons,
and were highly appraised only in the literature.
In the exhibition “Pioneering: Chinese Artists Abroad in France and Chinese Modern Art (1911-1949)”, many art treasures which have only existed in the legend are displayed for the first time, and many art masters who have been forgotten in history come into our view again, including Guo Yinglin, who had studied in France in the early days, with his three legendary oil paintings. It is the first time that Guo Yinglin’s works are shown in front of the public, and also the first time that the three dust-laden important artworks that have been kept in CAFA for more than half a century appear in public.
Guo Yinglin, Copied Millet “The Gleaners”, Oil on canvas, 82x108.5cm, 1920s-1930s
Guo Yinglin was undoubtedly a unique missing person. The first recording of him was discovered in “The Meeting Minutes of the Association of Chinese Artists in France”, which wrote “Guo Yinglin, male, painting, correspondence address – Xiamen Jimei School, returned to China”. For a long time, we have known nothing of his experience and achievements, nor of his works, and thus, he became a veritable missing man in art history.
Guo Yinglin, copied Corot “Forest Fairies Dancing in Early Morning”
Oil on canvas, 97×125.5cm, 1932
Mr. Huang Yongyu recalled memories of his teacher Guo Yinglin in the article “The Days in Jimei”: “My first art teacher in Jimei School was Guo Yinglin. He was a real and formal graduate from École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris (some people were not). He was good at both figure and landscape oil painting. I revered him because I didn’t know oil painting and most of the foreign painters he mentioned. He went to Paris after graduating from Jimei School. His voice was burry and nasal, mixed with a foreign flavor, and he dressed smartly. I felt very proud of following him to the gallery, through the oil curry trees and acacia trees.
Guo Yinglin, copied “Playing Piano”, Oil on canvas, 147.5x114.5cm, 1932
In the hallway hang the large and gold-framed paintings he had copied in Paris, in which there is a painting depicting an old man teaching a beautiful girl to play the piano. This picture is very touching as if the girl in the painting was Mr. Guo Yinglin’s own daughter, and she is afraid of making Mr. Guo get angry, so she secretly takes more glances. Mr. Guo went to Indonesia later. “The painting of a girl playing piano” described by Mr. Huang refers to the work “Playing Piano” in this exhibition. It is an oil painting that Guo Yinglin copied in France, and the original author is unknown. However, from the painting style, it should belong to classical academia school.
According to the materials provided by Guo Yinglin’s descendants and relevant historical documents, Guo Yinglin was born in Bondowoso, East Java province, Indonesia on September 27, 1898. When he was six years old, he came back to China with his father. He first studied in a private school in his hometown Haicheng town (now Zhangzhou, Fujian province), and then followed his uncle Guo Meicheng to study in Jimei Normal School.
Guo Yinglin (courtesy of Lin Mingjie)
Later, he transferred from Jimei Middle School to Nanjing National Jinan School for further study in the Teacher Education Department. After graduation, he went to the Philippines to teach at the Anglo-Chinese School and spent his spare time to learn painting in the art class at the University of the Philippines. He was fond of sports, swimming, and track and field events. In 1922, he spent 3 hours with Gu Zhenglai to swim nearly 14 kilometers from Jimei School to Gulangyu Island, and he also participated in the triple jump competition in the Philippines.
Guo Yinglin, Sketch in The Louvre, about 1932 (courtesy of Lin Mingjie)
In 1927 (one said 1928), Guo Yinglin was funded by his friend to study in France. In early 1929, he applied for École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris (ENSBA) and was accepted to the Sculpture and Sketch class, where he learned charcoal painting during the day and studied at the Municipal Night School of Fine Arts at night. In April 1930, he failed in the formal examination for ENSBA and thus worked much harder (the examination was held once a year and had stringent admission requirements. No matter how many candidates joined the exam, it would only enroll the first 15 students, and the students ranked from 16th to 60th place were in line for the official students within the one-year period). The next year, he was finally elected as a permanent student of the school.
In June 1931, Guo Yinglin took part in the charcoal painting competition of the school and unexpectedly won fifth place. This was the first Chinese student who gained the prize in the history of ENSBA. Chang Shuhong also said that Guo was the best student then.
Portrait photo of Guo Yinglin during his stay in France (courtesy of Lin Mingjie)
Guo Yinglin completed his studies in France while working part-time. In July 1932, he finished his studies at ENSBA and left the school. In January of the following year, he went back to China after the farewell party held for him by his classmates in France. At the same time, he became one of the founding members of the notable Association of Chinese Artists in France. On March 18 of the same year, Guo Yinglin was employed by Jimei School as the director of the school art museum and also served as the teacher of the Western painting in Xiamen Art School. His students included famous Taiwanese painter Zhuang Suo and Huang Yongyu.
The wedding picture of Guo Yinglin and Lin Cuijin taken at Zhongshan Park in Xiamen
In 1934, Guo Yinglin married Lin Cuijin, a celebrity lady born in Gulangyu. Ms. Lin Cuijin was born in 1904 in Ilang, Philippines and studied in Jimei Normal School. Three of her female cousins were married to Chen Jiageng’s three sons and became sisters-in-law, which was a story passed on with approval and also doomed that Guo Yinglin & Lin Cuijin couple had an indissoluble bond with Chen Jiageng in a lifetime.
In July, the Anti-Japanese War broke out, and in order to escape from the war, Guo Yinglin went to Nanyang and became an art teacher of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts was founded by Lin Xueda (1895-1963), one of the founding members of Xiamen Art School, with the support of Chen Juexiang (son of Chen Jiageng) and the alumni association, opening the prologue of local arts education in Nanyang. Among the faculty members were Lin Xueda (principal), Qiu Yingkui, Guo Yinglin, Zhong Mingshi, Xie Touba, and so on. Xie Touba once said, “Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is the overseas extension of Xiamen Art School.” The establishment of this art school is regarded as a typical example of Chinese modern art education system extending to overseas Chinese.
On December 8, 1941, after the downfall of Singapore, Guo Yinglin followed Guo Meichen to take refuge in Surabaya, Indonesia. He first taught in an overseas Chinese primary school and after a year, opened a gift shop with his friend. In 1942, Chen Jiageng escaped to Indonesia for shelter. In order to cover for Chen Jiageng, Guo Yinglin suspended the business of the gift shop and moved to Solo in central Java with family to rent a house for a while, and later moved into Malang in East Java. Guo Yinglin registered Chen Jiageng, under the name of “Li Wenxue”, in the residence booklet of his gift shop opened in Surabaya. In this way, Chen Jiageng became a legal resident who had moved to Java before the war and lived in Surabaya for five years and obtained the identity card. It was also an important reason why Mr. Chen Jiageng could get rid of the rounding up of the Japanese. During the three years, Guo Yinglin managed local product business and then opened a toothbrush factory, and as such, he gave up drawing completely.
Japan surrendered in 1945, and at the end of September, Guo Yinglin accompanied Chen Jiageng to go to Jakarta by train. Before leaving Malang, Chen Jiageng gave ten copies of The Memoirs of an Overseas Chinese of the Southern Ocean transcribed by him to the Guo Yinglin couple for preservation. In the 1980s, Ms. Lin Cuijin entrusted her children to donate the manuscripts to the state in twice, which are now collected by the Cheng Jiageng Memorial Hall in Jimei, becoming the treasure of the museum.
In the 1950s, Guo Yinglin’s children gradually grew up and could help manage the business. So, he didn’t have to rush about for life and started to pick up the paintbrush again.
Nanyang Siang Pau, reported on page 6 of February 24, 1933
In October 1956, an exhibition of works by the Indonesian overseas Chinese art group, comprising works of ten members from the Indonesia Overseas Chinese Art Association, was held in Beijing. It was the first exhibition held by overseas Chinese art group in China since 1949. Guo Yinglin, deputy head of the delegation, visited China and participated in the exhibition with many of his works. There he also met Huang Yongyu, his student decades ago. After the exhibition, he traveled all around the country and returned to his hometown, Gulangyu in Xiamen, and created a batch of paintings. After back to Indonesia, he had lived a stable life for several years, which could be regarded as the most pleasant time for him. On October 19, 1961, he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 63.
Before his death, Guo Yinglin told his wife Lin Cuijin to send his large copied paintings made in France, such as “Teaching Piano” and “Horses”, to the Embassy of Indonesia for transferring them to the Beijing Museum. Unfortunately, however, these paintings disappeared and never to be heard again in spite of many searches.
On October 31, 2018, with multiple efforts of Mr. Wang Cong in Indonesia, Mr. Zhou Bin, the cultural counselor of the Chinese embassy in Indonesia, Mr. Wang Zhixian, the second secretary of the Embassy of China in Indonesia, artist Mr. Ma Yongqiang, Guo Yinglin’s student Mr. Cao Dali, and Guo Yinglin’s descendants, it was finally confirmed that three pieces of his works were donated to the CAFA after his death. This news was verified by Li Yaochen, the director of the Collection Department of CAFA Art Museum. So far, after the search for Guo Yinglin’s final works for a half-century, a satisfactory result was finally achieved.
On entering the exhibition hall of “Pioneering: Chinese Artists Abroad in France and Chinese Modern Art” Exhibition at CAFA Art Museum, we can see the three works displayed side by side: “The Gleaners”, “Playing Piano” and “Forest Fairies Dancing in Early Morning”. In the face of these works, we cannot help but sign that, as an early artist studying in France, Guo Yinglin should not be forgotten by art history. His experience and works should be recorded and passed on, and the artistic spirit of previous artists should be inherited more than ever.
Author/Dong Song
Exhibition Information
Date: January 12 – March 3, 2019
Venue: CAFA Art Museum
Exhibition Tour Information
Long Museum (Shanghai) March 15 – June 9, 2019
Long Museum (Chongqing) June 21 – September 1, 2019
CAFA Art Museum · Qingdao Branch September 15 – October 25, 2019
