Founded in Shanghai in 1897 by Xia Ruifang and others, the Commercial Press integrates compilation, publishing, distribution, printing and education. The museum is known as Peking University at the same time"Twin Stars of Modern Chinese Culture".Because the Commercial Press is a new cultural industry in modern China, it has attracted celebrities from all walks of lifeSuch as Cai Yuanpei, Zhang Yuanji, Li Boyuan, Gao Fengqian, Du Yaquan, Lu Erkui, Chen Shutong, Ye Shengtao, Shen Yanbing, Jiang Menglin, Chen Bui, Wang Yun.
5. Zheng Zhenduo, Zhou Jianren, Zhou Yutong, Wang Boxiang, Tang Yue, Zhu Kezhen, Gu Jiegang, Huang Binhong, He Bingsong, Jin Zhonghua, Chen Hansheng, Zhang Jinyi, etc., are all thunderous figures, and even the famous Hu Shi and Chen ** have also contributed to the Commercial Press. The Commercial Press is the first modern publishing enterprise in China and an incubator for China's modern publishing industry.
In 1912, the Commercial Press built a new building for the main distribution office on Qipan Street (now No. 211 Henan Road).
"Shang, Zhong, Shi, Da and Kai" are the five largest publishing institutions in modern China, and most of the founders and business backbones of Zhonghua Book Company, World Book Company, Dadong Book Company and Kaiming Bookstore are from the Commercial Press.
In 1915, all the colleagues of the Compilation Office of the Commercial Press took a group photo.
In 1926, the compilation office building in the main factory of the Commercial Press on Baoshan Road.
According to the author's research, it was found that many well-known painters came out of the Commercial Press. For example, Xu Yongqing, Yan Wenliang, Wu Zhiqiu, Huang Binhong, Huang Baowu, Zhang Dazhuang, He Yimei, Hang Zhiying, Ge Xianglan, Jin Meisheng, Li Yongsen, Lu Shaofei, Jin Xuechen, Ling Shuren, Chen Xin, Du Zhitian, Zhang Lingtao, Zhang Dihan, etc., including Hu Yefo, who worked in Shanghai Duoyunxuan after the liberation, also worked or studied at the Commercial Press. Some of them work as leaders in the art department (or drawing department), some work as editors, some work as artists, and many of them are admitted to the Commercial Press as trainees to learn painting.
Mr. Ngan Man Leung.
In 1916, due to the significant shrinkage of the market size of lithographic commercial art in Shanghai, the Commercial Press renamed the "Picture Department" as the "Art Department".
After entering the Commercial Press to study painting at the first time, it became everyone's first recommendationYan Wenliang(1893-1988). Yan is a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and his status in the art world has been underestimated for a long time. In fact, he is one of the heroes in the history of modern art education in China, and occupies an extremely important place in the history of modern Chinese art. In 1911, Yan was admitted to the drawing room of the Commercial Press with excellent grades to study Western painting. According to Professor Li Chao's research in "The History of Modern Chinese Oil Painting", there were as many as 400 students in this class of students at that time, and only 30 were admitted in the end, including Yan Wenliang, who later became a generation of oil painting masters. In 1922, Yan, Hu Cuizhong and Zhu Shijie founded Suzhou Art College, which was one of the earliest art schools established in China. In 1928, he entered the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, and returned to China in 1932 to preside over the teaching of the Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts. In 1927, he founded the Suzhou Art Museum, the earliest art museum in China, and in 1928, he founded the academic and modern art magazine "Canglang Mei" (later renamed "Art Waves"). Some experts pointed out that the education system created by Yan Wenliang, Xu Beihong, Liu Haisu and Lin Fengmian respectively constitutes the four major systems of modern and contemporary art education in China, which shines in the annals of history. On May 5, 2023, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the list of famous artists whose deceased calligraphy and painting works were restricted from leaving the country after 1911.
Mr. Tsui Wing Ching.
The first person to preside over the work in the drawing department was Xu Yongqing. Xu Yongqing(1880-1953) was a native of Sijing, Songjiang, and a famous painter and art educator in the early days. At the age of 16, he joined the Tushanwan Printing House, which also belongs to the Xujiahui Catholic Church, and engaged in illustration creation and binding design. He specializes in watercolor and oil painting. According to the personnel files of the Commercial Press, Xu Yongqing was introduced to the Commercial Press by Shen Jifang in May 1905, and worked in the drawing department with a monthly salary of 30 yuan, and his main job was to draw covers and illustrations. He has a close relationship with Yan Wenliang, and it is impossible to verify whether he has been Yan Wenliang's teacher. According to Zhang Yuanji's diary, Xu Yongqing has been in and out of "business" several times, and his monthly salary in 2013 increased from 80 yuan to 100 yuan, which was already a very high monthly salary at that time, which shows that Xu Yongqing has a high reputation and excellent painting skills.
During the ** period, Xu was known as "the master of Chinese watercolor painting" and "the first person of Chinese watercolor painting". It's a pity that he has very few works handed down, and he has never published a catalogue or held an exhibition in his life, so that when it comes to Xu Yongqing now, the art world, especially young people, is very unfamiliar to him. Xu Yongqing's greatest contribution was the art school he ran in Tushanwan in his early years and the "Painting People's Friend" trainee art class run by the Drawing Department of the Commercial Press. Xu attaches great importance to the cultivation of art talents, and has single-handedly cultivated many masters, among which Hang Suiying, Jin Meisheng, Jin Xuechen, Ge Xianglan, Li Yongsen, and Lu Shaofei have the greatest influence.
Mr. Hang Zhiying.
Hang Suiying(1901-1947) was a famous painter of the month card and one of the earliest commercial artists in China. A native of Haining, Zhejiang, he has been smart and quick since he was a child. In the early years, his father Hang Zhuoying worked as the Chinese secretary of the printing factory director of the Shanghai Commercial Press, and the young Hang Zhuoying came to Shanghai and was admitted to the drawing department of the Commercial Press, studying and working with Xu Yongqing and Japanese and German teachers. In 1921, Hang Suiying left "business" and went out to work alone, and he was very hard and very busy. After 1925, he successively persuaded Jin Xuechen and Li Mubai to form a three-person team. After that, after the operation of Hangzhou, many famous artists in Shanghai have joined the Suiying studio, with about 20 members, they are: Hang Suiying, Jin Xuechen, Li Mubai, He Yimei, Wang Wenyan, Wang Songtang, Song Yunzhong, Li Zhongqing, Du Shaoying, Ling Danfu, Wu Xinfu, Tang Shifang, Wang Weide, Meng Muyi, Yang Wanli, Wei Jialin, Wu Zhefu, Shanyuanlu, Zhang Yuqing, etc., if you add Hang Zhuoying, who is responsible for management and logistics, Wang Luosui, as well as Hang Ming, who began to get involved in the studio business when he grew up, had a total of 20 to 25 people, and the lineup was huge and neat, which became an extremely beautiful landscape in the world.
There are statistics: there are more than 1,600 kinds of monthly cards drawn by the studio operation, and the income can reach up to the purchase of a car per month, which is astronomical. In the winter of 1941, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army occupied the Shanghai Concession and asked him to draw the month card with a heavy payment. was rejected by Hang, and since then he has put aside his pen, lived on debt, and changed to study Chinese painting for his own entertainment. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, he began to return to his old business, worked hard, and paid off his debts in two or three years. In 1947, Hang Suiying died of illness due to overwork, and there was a huge scene of nearly 1,000 people mourning in Shanghai.
Mr. Kim Mei Sheng.
Jin Meisheng(1902-1989) was a famous painter of the month. Shanghainese. In 1920, he was admitted to the Commercial Press to study painting with Xu Yongqing. In 1931, he set up his own studio, dedicated to the creation of moon card paintings, and dedicated his life to Chinese commercial art for nearly 50 years. He is good at painting beautiful women in Chinese costumes, and together with Xie Zhiguang and Hang Suiying, he pushed the Chinese month card painting to a deeper level, and the works of the three of them have absorbed the essence of Chinese painting and Western painting and have their own merits.
Mr. Jin Xuechen.
Jin Xuechen(1904-1996) was a famous painter of the month. A native of Jiading, Shanghai. In 1922, he was admitted to the Shanghai Commercial Press to study painting with the first place, and he had a very good sense of color and was good at painting landscapes. In 1925, the first Zhiying studio became one of the three pillars of the studio.
It should be said: Hang Suiying, Jin Meisheng, Jin Xuechen once became the most popular painters in Shanghai during the ** period, along with Hu Boxiang and Xie Zhiguang.
Mr. Ge Xianglan.
In addition to the above trainees, there are also many people who have studied in the art class of "Painter Friends" trainees of the Picture Department of the Shanghai Commercial Press personally run by Xu Yongqing, among which Ge Xianglan, Lu Shaofei and Li Yongsen are also the most prominent figures in the art world.
Ge Xianglan(1904-1964) was a native of Anfeng, Dongtai. In 1920, he entered the Commercial Press to study painting, and later became a master of painting horses in the maritime painting world, and once won the reputation of Guo Moruo's "today's Cao Ba", and some connoisseurs called him and Xu Beihong "North Xu Nange". In the 20s of the 20th century, he designed the "Marley brand" pigment trademark and continued to use it until after the liberation, but unfortunately Ge died at the age of 60.
Mr. Lu Shaofei.
Lu Shaofei(1903-1995) was born in Shanghai. In the spring of 1917, he was admitted to the Shanghai Commercial Press to study painting, and was good at comics and editing. He is an influential master of comics. In 1934, he served as the editor-in-chief of "Times Comics", and cultivated a group of cartoonists with distinctive personalities, so some people praised him as the "Bole" of Chinese comics and the "originator" of modern Chinese comics. He founded the China Cartoonists Association, hosted "Salvation Comics", and edited "National Mobilization Pictorial". In 1993, on his 90th birthday, he was awarded the "Chinese Comics Golden Monkey Award", which was also a tribute to his lifelong work in the comic world.
Mr. Lee Wing-sum.
Lee Wing-sen(1898-1998) was a native of Changshu, Jiangsu. In 1920, he was admitted to the Commercial Press to study painting, and later admitted to Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation, he successively served as the editor of Pacific Pictorial, the art designer of China Chemical Industry Society, the professor of the Pattern Department of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, and the vice president of Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts. At the same time, he participated in the establishment of the Shanghai Watercolor Painting Research Association and the Shanghai Pastel Painting Society, and served as the president respectively. Li is known for his watercolor paintings, and his style is both realistic and freehand. He is a master of contemporary watercolor painting and an art educator.
Mr. Wu Zhiqiu.
Wu waits for autumn(1878-1949) was introduced by Chen Shutong, director of the Commercial Press, after 1916, to succeed Xu Yongqing as the director of the Fine Arts Department of the Commercial Press. Wu Zhiqiu is a native of Chongde (now Tongxiang), Zhejiang, the son of Wu Botao, and Wu Changshuo and Wang Yiting are world friends. At the age of eighteen, he was at the top of the boy's exam. He is good at landscapes, flowers, and calligraphy. Wu enjoys a high reputation in the ** painting world, and Wu Hufan, Wu Zishen, and Feng Chaoran are collectively known as "Three Wu and One Feng", and because of his age, he is the first of the "Three Wu and One Feng";Together with Wu Zishen, Wu Hufan, and Wu Guandai, it is called "Jiangnan Four Wu";Together with Zhao Shuru, Wu Hufan, and Feng Chaoran, they are known as the "Four Masters of the Sea". During his tenure as the director of the Fine Arts Department of the Commercial Press, Wu compiled and published the albums of famous people of the past dynasties, and edited and reviewed the Collection of Ancient and Modern Celebrity Calligraphy and Paintings. Wu also worked with the workers on printing technology, and after many experiments, tried to print Koro plates on rice paper and succeeded, it can be said that Wu made a significant contribution to the development of the Commercial Press.
Mr. Huang Binhong.
In 1921, after Wu Zhiqiu resigned as the director of the art department of the Commercial Press, Chen Shutong introduced Huang Binhong as the director of the art department of the Commercial Press. Previously, Chen Shutong also introduced his family's maid Song Ruoying to Huang Binhong, and since then Huang Binhong has a home in Shanghai.
Huang Binhong(1865-1955) was a master figure in the history of modern art. Originally from She County, Anhui Province, he was born in Jinhua, Zhejiang. It is known as "Southern Yellow and Northern Qi" with Qi Baishi, and is also known as "Four Traditional Masters of the 20th Century" together with Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi and Pan Tianshou. He is good at landscapes, black, dense, thick and heavy are his artistic styles. Creation makes good use of ink accumulation, splashing ink, breaking ink, and staying ink, and staggered use, especially the accumulation of ink wins, so his paintings look black, but the intention is to seek layers in the ink;Dense contains the meaning of full, so that the picture is compact and not loose;Thick is thick and simple;The heavy is three points, the pen to the home, the most motivating. Huang Sheng's works are very rich, including "Huangshan Painter Origin Examination", "Honglu Painting Talk", "Ancient Painting Micro", "Painting Edition", "Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting Edition", "Painting Essentials" and so on. Among them, in 1925, the monograph on the history of yellow painting, "Ancient Painting Micro", was published in the Commercial Press. In the same year, Huang Binhong left the Commercial Press, and Huang Baohu took over the position of director of the art department for more than 20 years, making him the longest-serving director of the art department of the Commercial Press.
Mr. Huang Baohui.
Letter of appointment from Huang Baowu of the Commercial Press.
Huang Baohu(1880-1969) was a native of Qingshan Village, Changle County, Fujian Province. Huang initially worked as a compiler on the editorial committee of the production department of the Commercial Press, and did a lot of work to collect and organize the publication of art heritage, and succeeded Huang Binhong as the director of the art department in 1925. He is proficient in calligraphy, inscriptions, seal carving, painting and other arts, calligraphy attainments and Wang Fuchang, Ma Gongyu is equally famous, known as the "three old men on the sea";He is also good at identification, and Wu Hufan, Yao Yuqin, and Zhang Dazhuang are also called "Shanghai Bin's Four Wise Eyes". During his tenure as the director of the Fine Arts Department of the Commercial Press, he presided over the printing of famous paintings and calligraphy in the past and modern dynasties, and made great contributions to the promotion of traditional art. Most of the published calligraphy and painting masterpieces are inscribed by himself.
Mr. Zhang Dazhuang.
In addition to the above famous artists, there are three painters who are remarkable: one isZhang Dazhuang(1903-1980), nephew of Zhang Taiyan, a master of Chinese culture, was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. In 1920, he worked as an artist at the Commercial Press, and made a name for himself in painting. The following year, he was appreciated by the great collector Pang Laichen and hired into the Pang family to do calligraphy and painting management. Good at flowers and birds, calligraphy, can govern seals. Painting patriarchal Yun Shouping, Hua Zhe, and Huang Zhen, Xu Xi, the work of Yanli and clear, beautiful and moving;In his later years, he gradually involved Xu Wei, Chen Chun, Zhu Qi and others, and his pen and ink were old and spicy, indulgent and free;Like to paint vegetables and fruits, shrimp and crabs, etc., vivid and lively, with unique charm;Occasional landscapes, close to Wang Yuanqi, jerky and refreshing. **Period, together with Jiang Hanting, Tang Yun and Lu Yifei, he was one of the four modern flower and bird painters, and was collectively called the four famous painters of flower painting, and the scenery was infinite for a while.
Mr. Hu Yefu.
The other isHu Yefo(1908-1980), a native of Yuyao, Zhejiang. After graduating from the Xinhua Art Department in Shanghai in 1929, he was introduced by He Mingqi, a teacher of the Art College, and entered the Shanghai Commercial Press on Baoshan Road as a special draftsman of the art editorial department. Hu also Buddhist calligraphy and painting, figures, landscapes, flowers and birds, calligraphy, ** everything involved, especially fine ladies and landscapes, Zong Ming Qiu Shizhou, "iron line gossamer" is his exclusive work, it is said that in order to draw a good lady, practice the lines. Practicing circles, ellipses, and arcs not only requires one go, but also has an even and powerful pen. Therefore, Hu Yefo's line kung fu is still a must-have in China. Dong Qiao, a famous writer in Hong Kong, said that Hu Yefo "painted the most famous ladies in his life, and it is said that Qiu Shizhou is the second, Zhang Daqian thinks that he can't paint the charm of Hu Yefo's ladies." ”
Mr. Zhang Lingtao.
And one more isZhang Lingtao(1903-1988), a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang. Long-term cooperation with Hu Ruofo (Hu Yefo's pen name), known as "** partner". After graduating from Shanghai Art College in 1921, he was recommended by his uncle Zhang Baoling to General Manager Zhang Yuanji to join the editorial office of the Commercial Press as an art editor, illustrating textbooks, and editing the Children's Pictorial with Hu Ruofo and Pan Sitong. Among them, Zhang and Hu have the most and most dense cooperation, often Zhang Lingtao drafts and Hu Ruofo sketches. However, the most popular of them was in the fifties and sixties, and they collaborated to create a large number of classics, which are still fresh in people's memories.
It should be said that at that time, whether it was to enter the Commercial Press to study or work, it was very popular and popular, not only the treatment here is good, the threshold is also high, but also you can learn a lot of knowledge and skills, and you can also contact a lot of "cattle people", broaden your horizons and establish contacts. It is reported that the editorial team of the Commercial Press is very large, with a large number of talented people, each with their own expertise, totaling more than 200 people. Therefore, working or studying in such a platform is naturally a dream for many people. For example, when Yan Wenliang applied for the Commercial Press, the number of people was as high as 400, and only 30 people were finally admitted, which shows that the competition was quite fierce at that time. If Xu Yongqing, Wu Zhiqiu, Huang Binhong, and Huang Baowu serve as leaders of the art department, they are all powerful and influential figures in the art world or art world, and they must be recommended by the leaders of the Commercial Press to hold this important position.
As can be seen from the above:The Commercial Press has produced many well-known painters, many of whom have had a significant impact on the art world.