Artist(s): Xu Beihong 徐悲鴻 (1895 - 1953)Ink and color on paper, laid to silk. Hanging scroll. Painting (Sight): Length: 95.5 cm, Width: 98.5 cm Dated: In the Summer of Xu Beihong's 28 years (1923)Signed/Seal(s): 2 Artist seals, signedComment: A hand painting depicting a lion and snake. Showing Artist's signature followed by two iron-red seal. Matted with creme-teal silk border. PROVENANCE:From the Estate Heirloom Collections of General He Shaozhou 何绍周 (1903 - 1980), born in Xingyi County, Guizhou Province, was the nephew of Yingchen He. He served as a General in the National Revolutionary Army and Lieutenant General in the Republic of China.After graduating from the 15th class of the Japanese Army Cadet School, he entered the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy (Republic of China Military Academy) in 1924 and participated in the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party)'s Eastern Expedition and Northern Expedition. In 1939, he was promoted to Major General. In 1940, he became the Vice Commander of the newly organized 11th Army and the Vice Commander of the 8th Army, and in 1942, he became the Commander of the 88th Army. He was elected as a delegate to the First National Assembly and was promoted toLieutenant General in September 1948. The painting collections of General He Shaozhou 何绍周 presented and offered up to auctions: ON DAY-1: from Lot-129 through Lot-160ON DAY-2: from Lot-547 through Lot-578.For More information about General He ShaoZhou 何绍周, Please refer to this link: https://www.eden-galleries.com/General-he-shao-zhou-bioLOT NOTES:Xu Beihong 徐悲鴻 (19 July 1895 - 26 September 1953) was a Chinese painter born in Yixing, Jiangsu province. He was primarily known for his Chinese ink paintings of horses and birds and was one of the first Chinese artists to articulate the need for artistic expressions that reflected a modern China at the beginning of the 20th century. He was also regarded as one of the first to create monumental oil paintings with epic Chinese themes, a show of his high proficiency in an essential Western art technique. Xu began studying classic Chinese works and calligraphy with his father Xu Dazhang when he was six, and Chinese painting when he was nine. In 1915, he moved to Shanghai, where he made a living off commercial and private work. He traveled to Tokyo in 1917 to study arts. When he returned to China, he began to teach at Peking University's Arts school at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei. Beginning in 1919, Xu studied overseas in Paris at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, where he studied oil painting and drawing. His travels around Western Europe allowed him to observe and learn Western art techniques. Xu Beihong still wrote regularly for the Daily University of Peking University that dealt with wider issues then just campus politics. Xu addressed issues of Art and Art History and in 1920 a university art journal called Painting Miscellany was published. Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei. He and his partner Jiang Biwei came back to China in 1927 and, from 1927 to 1929, he gained a number of posts at institutions in China, including teaching at National Central University (now Nanjing University) in the former capital city Nanjing. In 1933, Xu organized an exhibition of modern Chinese painting that traveled to France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and the Soviet Union. During World War II, Xu traveled to Southeast Asia, holding exhibitions in Singapore and India. All the proceeds from these exhibitions went to Chinese people who were suffering as a result of the war.