XU BEIHONG (1895-1953)

The collector’s seal belongs to Huang Manshi (1890-1963). He and his elder brother, Huang Menggui (1885-1965), were two influential people in Xu Beihong’s life in Southeast Asia. As General Manager of Nanyang Brothers Tobacco, Huang Manshi invited Xu Beihong to Singapore and introduced him to many influential Chinese tycoons in Southeast Asia, where many of his important works were born. Xu saw the Huang brothers as “the most intimate friends in life”, calling them “big brother” and “second brother” respectively. After the brothers’ deaths, their collection was passed to family as well as to several prominent collectors in Southeast Asia.