Chen Xiaonan was born in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, China in 1908. From 1927–29 he studied at the Wuxi Art School, and from 1930–34 he trained under Xu Beihong at the Arts Department of the Nanjing Central University. In order to further his studies, Chen moved to England in 1946; two years later he held a solo show at Foyles Art Gallery and participated in the art exhibition for the 1948 Summer Olympics at the Victoria & Albert Museum, before returning to the Peoples Republic of China permanently in 1950.
Painter and etcher Chen Xiaonan was born in Liyang (Lixian), Jiangsu Province, China in 1908. From 1927–29 he studied painting at the Wuxi Art School, and from 1930–34 he trained under Xu Beihong at the Arts Department of the Nanjing Central University.
Under the auspices of Beihong, who was on the board of directors of the Sino-British Boxer Indemnity, Xiaonan, along with Beihong's three other students, Zhang Qianying, Fei Chengwu and Zhang Anzhi, was recommended to the Nanking National Government to be sent to England for further fine arts education in 1946. The British Council representative Geoffrey Hedley (d. 1958), who worked in China from 1944 to 1950, was also instrumental in sending the four artists to study in London. The students were funded and looked after by the Universities' China Committee in London (UCCL), an educational charitable trust established in 1925. As a sign of gratitude for the hospitality received, they presented the UCCL with a group of paintings (sold at auction by Bonhams Hong Kong in 2020). Between 1943 and 1945, prior to his arrival in England, Xiaonan's work was included in the landmark Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Paintings at the Royal Water-Colour Society’s Galleries in London, which later travelled extensively to English provincial cities, including Sheffield, Bath, Birmingham, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster, among others. The exhibition featured selected works representing the existing schools of modern Chinese painting and was crucial in throwing light on current trends in art in Republican China (Ying-Ling Huang 2019, p. 389). In 1948 Xiaonan participated in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London and his work was exhibited, alongside that of the other participants, at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Later the same year he held a solo show at Foyles Art Gallery.
Xiaonan returned to China in in 1950, where he joined the teaching staff at the Central Art Academy. He subsequently became Deputy Head of the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall in 1953. In 1961 he transferred to the Guangzhou Art Academy where he became a professor in the Block Print Department. Xiaonan was best known for his block prints, etchings and Chinese paintings. Chen Xiaonan died in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China in 1993. His art is currently not represented in any UK public collections.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Chen Xiaonan]
Publications related to [Chen Xiaonan] in the Ben Uri Library