Opening ceremony

On May 8, the Li Hu Gallery was unveiled at Ningbo Museum of Art. The first phase displays 31 of the 120 donated works, including the famous masterpiece The Rape of Nanking, and the rest of the works would be exhibited in a phased manner.

Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Ningbo Municipal People’s Congress, Wang Jianshe, and Ms. Ping Li unveiled the Gallery.

Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Ningbo Municipal Government, Gu Zhengwei, presented a collection certificate for Ms. Ping Li.

Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Ningbo Municipal People’s Congress, Wang Jianshe, Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Ningbo Municipal Government, Gu Zhengwei, Party Secretary and Vice Chairman of Ningbo City Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Wang Xiaoyong, Director of the Ningbo Branch of Zhejiang Daily Newspaper, Li Jianxin, Deputy Director of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Municipal Government, Zhao Jun, Li Hu’s wife Ms. Ping Li, Dean of Fine Arts Academy of Shanghai Normal University and Vice Chairman of Shanghai Fine Arts Association, Yu Xiaofu, famous Chinese painter in the United States, Xia Baoyuan, Chairman of the American Chinese Artists Association, Yu zhengu, and Li Hu’s children, his relatives and friends attended the ceremony. Wang Xiaoyong, Yu Xiaofu, Yu Zhengu, and Ping Li made speeches in succession. Gu Zhengwei presented a collection certificate for Ms. Li. In the end, Wang Jianshe and Ms. Li unveiled the gallery together. The unveiling ceremony was hosted by Han Licheng, Vice Chairman of Ningbo Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Director of Ningbo Museum of Art. Before the unveiling ceremony, Dean of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Feng Yuan, and many friends of Mr. Hu sent their congratulatory messages.

Party Secretary and Vice Chairman of Ningbo Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Wang Xiaoyong, making a speech

Dean of Fine Arts Academy, Shanghai Normal University, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Fine Arts Association, Yu Xiaofu, delivering a speech

Chairman of the American Chinese Artists Association, Yu Zhengu, making a speech

Ms. Ping Li making a speech

Li Hu was born into a family of artists in 1950 with his ancestral home located in Zhenhai District, Ningbo. Therefore, he was deeply influenced and enlightened by art since childhood. After graduating from Fine Arts Academy of Shanghai University in 1986, he was appointed professor and taught painting there. In 1990, Hu moved to the United States where he pursued a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of South Dakota. In 1993, he achieved his MFA at the University of South Dakota. Then he received a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the next year and eventually worked his way through the ranks to full professor in 2000.

When studying abroad, Li created a series of works with a variety of western painting styles, which greatly enriched and perfected his personal creative style. In Li’s creative career afterwards, his ability to integrate international and Chinese art had been utilized at its best. His works like Birds of Nv Woh and The Rape of Nanking had attracted widespread attention from American society, and were highly praised by the art world. His numerous works had been collected by art institutions and individuals in the United States and Japan.

On April 15, 2016, Mr. Hu died after medical treatment failed. Before his death, he had been committed to contributing to his hometown and donated his best works to the Ningbo Museum of Art. The first batch of donated works included 32 pieces. After his death, his wife Ms. Ping Li continued to manage his artworks for donation, including sketches and drawings. The number of final donation reached up to 120! These precious works greatly enriched the public collections of Ningbo and played a strong role in promoting Ningbo's literature and artistic undertaking. In 2016, after being submitted by the Ningbo Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and voted by the Standing Committee of Ningbo Municipal People’s Congress, Ms. Ping Li was awarded “Ningbo City Honorary Citizen” to honor her outstanding contribution to the development of Ningbo literature and artistic undertaking. This was also a kind of comfort to Mr. Hu.

Ningbo Museum of Art has always been planning to collect the works of Ningbo’s artists on a large scale and set up galleries at appropriate time. In recent years, the museum has set up art galleries for famous artists such as Chen Qiucao, Gu Shengyue, Wu Yongliang and Li Huanmin. It also plans to display the works of He Youzhi for a long time. Through this method, the museum aims to study and inherit their rich artistic achievements, and allow these famous art pieces take root and influence generations of Ningbo. Li Hu Gallery serves the same purpose.