Museum puts little-known artist in spotlight

In 2006, Chinese artist, writer and poet Mu Xin returned to his hometown of Wuzhen after decades in New York.

He spent the last five years of his life in his childhood house in the eastern part of the ancient water town, writing and painting until the last moment of his life.

Few locals knew of this versatile master. When the Mu Xin Art Museum opened in November, the modern architecture of the pond-side site and its large-scale opening exhibition pushed Mu back into the spotlight.

Now, even a local taxi driver knows that Wuzhen not only has master writer Mao Dun (1896-1981), but also has Mu Xin, whose books, poems and paintings have influence in and outside China.

The ongoing exhibition in the Mu Xin Art Museum displays 100 paintings and 50 manuscripts, including some from his time in a Shanghai jail, where he was incarcerated for 18 months during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

The items on show are just a small part of what Mu left behind－more than 600 paintings and 1,000 manuscripts in total.

Mu's water-and-ink paintings were collected by the British Museum, Yale University and Harvard University Art Gallery, and some of his works are with private art collectors in the United States.

"He digested the knowledge of masters both from the West and East," says Chen Danqing, director of the Mu Xin Art Museum.

Mu's house was next to the home of Mao Dun, one of the most celebrated novelists of modern China before 1949. Mu often visited Mao's house to read from his large collections of Western literature, which greatly influenced him.

That's why the museum has introduced a special exhibition dedicated to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche for its opening exhibition.

The Nietzsche Foundation presents five Nietzsche manuscripts and 20 of his books first published early in the 19th century as well as his family photos.

To show the influence of Chinese ink-painting master Lin Fengmian's influence on Mu, the museum also curates a special show, including paintings both from Lin and Mu, for comparison.

In fact, before the art museum was created, the childhood house where Mu spent his last five years was also transformed into a memorial after he died in 2011.

One whole wall is full of photos, manuscripts and poems by Mu to present his life in New York and Wuzhen.

He moved to New York in 1982. In the early 1990s, Mu lectured for free on world art and literature to many Chinese artists and authors who traveled to New York.

The lectures continued for five years and have now been compiled into a book by one of his students－Chen, the museum director.

The desk he used for 10 years in New York was shipped over to the memorial. On it stand photos of Mu's favorite authors－Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde, and his music collection of Bach.

"I think he is great in art and literature. For me, I love his poems and words more," says the president of the China Academy of Art, Xu Jiang.

One of Mu's poems, Time Was Slower in the Past, is widely known in China. A visit to Mu's memorial and museum is a good way to slow down in Wuzhen.