Ren Xiong 任熊 (1823–1857), despite his short life, was one of the major masters of Chinese painting in the nineteenth century CE. Born into a poor family in Xiaoshan, northern Zhejiang, Ren Xiong lived and worked in several places, including Qiantang, Shanghai, and eventually Suzhou. Ren Xiong is counted among the "Four Rens" and is described as a Shanghai School artist. While Ren Xiong was based in Shanghai, where he painted and sold his artworks, including paintings and woodblock prints, some of his works, such as the Self-Portrait shown here, were more provocative images that were not intended for sale.
The Shanghai School painters became prominent in the nineteenth century CE when Shanghai was opened to foreign trade and an increasing number of Westerners appeared in this port city. These artists were somewhat influenced by Western tastes and developed their art for commercial purposes, catering to the increasing interests of city dwellers in this newly opened commercial port city. The subject matter of these artists often consisted of mundane or everyday subjects, which were popular with audiences, rather than aloof or idealised subjects such as landscape paintings, which were considered sophisticated and poetic.
In his Self-Portrait, Ren Xiong presents himself as an artist and member of society with a frontal gaze and strong brushwork, displaying an unusual degree of self-awareness. Ren Xiong lived in a tumultuous period, with a sense of having nothing to hold on to given the turbulent circumstances of the time in which he was living. This Self-Portrait is life-sized, measuring a little over five feet and therefore almost as tall as Ren Xiong himself. Ren Xiong's head amd chest are rendered with detailed brushwork and subtle shading, which contrasts with his sharply angular outer robe and oversized pants. His hands are positioned above his waist, giving the figure an aggressive and assertive appearance.
The inscription in this painting is:
"With the world in turmoil, what lies ahead of me? I smile and bow and go around flattering people in hope of making connections; but what do I know of affairs? In the great confusion, what is there to hold on to and rely on? How easy it is merely to chat about this?"
In the inscription, Ren Xiong laments passing through history unrecorded alongside other ordinary people and expresses how helpless he feels. Ren Xiong, as a man of no rank or status, made his way among well-established gentry patrons, rich merchants, and military officials while struggling to simply survive. While his inscription powerfully states the hopelessness and bleakness of his situation, his self-portrait conveys with equal power his defiance if the role and situation that history has thrust him into.
The contradiction between his Self-Portrait and inscription is that he might have been someone in another day and age, perhaps even a hero, but here he will join millions of others who disappear without a trace. And yet, through the act of painting this Self-Portrait and writing this inscription, along with all his others, Ren Xiong ensures that he will not disappear without a trace.
This self-portrait feels not like a picture of a person but more like a strong message about who someone is. Ren Xiong shows himself on looking right at the person who is looking at the painting with a strong and maybe even challenging eye. The simple background makes sure all the focus is on his body, his clothes and his face. I think the difference between the face and chest and the big sharp clothes is really interesting. His big hands and feet and the large size of the painting make the person look very strong and tall.. The writing on the painting adds a different feeling showing that he is not sure about where he stands in a changing world. The painting seems to mix being weak with being strong. For me the painting shows an artist trying to show who he is and that he is important, at a time when it was not clear if people would care about him or his art. Making such a self-portrait is a way of being seen and keeping who you are.
