广东开平人。早年考入国立杭州艺术专科学校，师从林风眠、蔡威廉。1932年留学法国，入巴黎高等美术学校学习油画，作品曾入选巴黎春季沙龙。1935年回国，任教于广州市立美术学校。1943年起任国立艺术专科学校教授。
胡善馀擅作油画风景、静物，多取法欧洲印象派，也得益于中国民间艺术。其色彩或对比强烈而响亮，或变化微妙而谐和，淡装浓抹，各尽其趣。笔触轻松流畅，薄涂厚堆，皆得其宜；时用刮刀，更见锦上添花之美。出版有《胡善馀油画集》等。徐悲鸿曾说：“色彩画家百年难遇”，胡善馀可称得上为色彩语言大师。胡善馀对于用色十分讲究，他曾一度自己制作颜料，并潜心总结用色的规律。他认为，一幅画上每个色彩都不能孤立，都要有联系，这样就能形成调子，不然就成了一块调色板。用色主要是凭借自己敏锐的感觉，观察物象时，要能看出各种色彩之间的联系、相互之间的影响。据胡善馀女儿胡漪涟女士回忆：“关良先生曾将自己不舍得使用的进口颜料送给父亲，认为这些颜料只有在胡善馀那里，才能变成最丰富、最美的色彩。”
胡善馀无论是面对静物写生，还是人物写生，无论是独自创作，还是课堂示范，他都强调要将情感投入到表现对象中去，将内心感受融入笔调之中，挖掘对象之美，以油画语言传达对象之神，从而达到神与物游、物我两忘的美学境地。
Born in Kaiping, Guangdong. In his early years, he was admitted to the National Hangzhou Art College and studied under Lin Fengmian and Cai Weilian. In 1932, he studied in France and entered the Paris Higher School of Fine Arts to study oil painting. His works were selected for the Paris Spring Salon. In 1935, he returned to China and taught at the Guangzhou Municipal School of Fine Arts. He has been a professor at the National Art College since 1943.
Hu Shanyu is good at oil painting landscapes and still lifes, mostly inspired by European Impressionism, and also benefited from Chinese folk art. His colors are either contrasting and loud, or subtle and harmonious, light and thick, each with its own interest. His brushstrokes are relaxed and smooth, and he applies thin and thick paints appropriately; sometimes he uses a scraper to add icing on the cake. He has published "Hu Shanyu Oil Painting Collection" and other works. Xu Beihong once said: "Color painters are rare in a century", and Hu Shanyu can be called a master of color language. Hu Shanyu is very particular about the use of colors. He once made his own pigments and devoted himself to summarizing the laws of color use. He believes that each color in a painting cannot be isolated, but must be connected, so that a tone can be formed, otherwise it will become a palette. The use of colors mainly relies on one's own keen sense. When observing objects, one must be able to see the connection and mutual influence between various colors. According to Hu Shanyu's daughter, Ms. Hu Yilian, "Mr. Guan Liang once gave his father imported pigments that he was reluctant to use, believing that these pigments could only become the richest and most beautiful colors with Hu Shanyu." Whether Hu Shanyu is facing still life sketches or figure sketches, whether he is creating alone or demonstrating in class, he emphasizes that he should put his emotions into the object of expression, integrate his inner feelings into the brushwork, explore the beauty of the object, and convey the spirit of the object with the language of oil painting, so as to achieve the aesthetic state of spirit and object wandering, and forgetting both the object and the self.
