1. an Introduction to the Development of Western Painting. When Did People Start Painting?

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Author: Ivy LIN 1. An Introduction to the Development of Western Painting.

When did people start painting? This question is fundamental yet complex. In the West, the earliest known wall paintings from as early as 15,000-10,000 B.C. were discovered in the Altamira Cave in Spain (Fig. 1) and in the Lascaux Cave in France (horse) (Fig.2). These wall paintings demonstrate how people from the Stone Age began painting vivid and life-like representations of objects through careful observation. Primitive Western paintings were used in religious rituals, and as painting developed, religious art became central to Western art.

Most ancient Western paintings were painted on vessels or on the walls of caves. They had several functions: chronicling history, glorifying certain deeds and prayer. Stone Age cave paintings principally depict scenes of herding and hunting, whereas paintings on tomb walls from the Egyptian and Assyrian Empires show mythological representations and scenes of everyday reflecting man’s quest for eternal life. The introduction of the “foreshortening” technique1 (Fig. 3) in early Greek art marked one of the major accomplishments of Archaic Greek art. It laid the foundation for perspective adopted by later painters and paved the way for the use of an objective, rational and analytic method to represent nature. The Roman Empire adopted the fine artistic traditions of Greece as exemplified by Christian painting which began to flourish in Europe during the time of Emperor Constantine.

Byzantine mosaic art was followed by Gothic stained glass in the Middle Ages. In turn a revolutionary artistic movement, the Renaissance2, began in Italy in the 14th century, sparked off by social and economic changes which produced a new merchant class. Painters began to seek new solutions to formal and visual problems and started scientific experimentation in pursuit of realism and perfect human form. Based on scientific experimentation they developed perspective by using theories of anatomy they created a system by which all objects in a painting are related both proportionally and rationally. This made it possible to represent three-dimensional space convincingly on a flat surface.

The Italian Renaissance promoted creativity and this allowed the style of Western painting to mature. This period is significant because it laid the foundation for the theory of painting and perfected the techniques which would greatly influence artists over the subsequent centuries. Emerging in Italy in the mid-17th century, Baroque art, which followed Mannerism3, used illusion, colour, light and movement to enhance the emotional power of subjects. Baroque evolved into Rococo 4 art which emphasised decoration characterized by lightness, delicacy, and elaborate ornamentation. It was popular for a short period in France in the 18th century. After the mid-18th century, Rococo art was gradually superseded by Neoclassicism5, which was marked by the emulation of Graeco-Roman forms. This, in turn, was replaced

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Author: Ivy LIN by Romanticism6, which dominated Europe in the early 19th century. Inspired by social, political and historical changes, and even by the discovery of ancient relics, artists discarded the rational and harmonious principles of painting in pursuit of an expression of emotion to represent an imperfect world.

The period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century witnessed the emergence of Impressionist 7 paintings in France and the rise of Modernism following the French and Industrial Revolutions. Impressionists rejected the formalism and sentimentality of academic art, seeking to use new technological devices and find new answers to the question of how to represent art.

The rise of an increasingly powerful middle class (bourgeoisie) also changed demand and tastes in the art market and the kinds of serious subjects previously favoured by noble patrons were gradually replaced by light-hearted, easily comprehensible images. By this time, traditional painting seemed too unpopular to ever be reinstated in mainstream art. Impressionist painters chose to paint transient moments in order to deride the quest for eternity in traditional painting. They portrayed an emotional response and used scientific analytic methods to capture the effect of natural light and colour on objects at a particular moment in time. They were unconcerned about the traditional demands of incorporating morals and ideals into paintings. Instead, they used primary colors, the naturalness and juxtaposition of these bright colours and patterns reflecting a playfulness and light-hearted consumerist attitude.

Neo-Impressionism 8 grew out of Impressionism. As a reaction against the loose painting requirements of Impressionism, artists gradually developed other techniques by moving away from naturalism. Paul Cezanne 9 (1839-1906) aimed to create a harmonious composition, exploring the interaction between the properties of line, plane and colour, while Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) emphasized the expression of emotions through every possible distortion and combination of colour.

The revolutionary works by the Impressionists paved way for the development of Cubism10 and Fauvism11 in France in the early 20th century. While Cubism stresses the structure of the pictorial surface, Fauvism emphasises the expressiveness of colour and line. Yet, another contemporary movement, Expressionism12, developed in Germany, sought to depict a movement or tendency striving to express subject feelings and emotion rather than reality or objectivity in nature. Like Expressionists, Surrealists13 emphasised the depiction of dreams and subconscious fantasies in their work.

With social, industrial and urban advances, during the 19th century, naturalism was no relevent to society. Painters were now confronted with tall buildings and machinery. In the early 20th century, given

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Author: Ivy LIN this new view of the world, many artists reacted against the tradition of imitating nature by using forms, colours and abstract space to represent or to create a “reality” which dated back to 10th century European painting. The antecedents of abstract art can be traced back to the 19th century and to styles of painting in which the accurate depiction of reality was losing its primacy as the painter's aim. There are two main tendencies in abstract art: to have the subject of an artwork “abstracted” from natural appearance or pure abstraction, where non-representational forms and colours are used without any reference to the external appearance of the physical world in order to express the artist’s personality and feelings. Sometimes inspired by music, nature or urban landscapes, paintings in the former group are composed of independent forms and colours. This tendency has led to the rise of New Objectivity 14 in Germany and Neo-plasticism15 in the Netherlands. Pure abstraction later developed into two different styles, lyrical abstraction16 and geometric abstraction17. The former became the precursor of abstract expressionism and action painting18 which became popular in the United States and Art Informal in France in the 1950s.

Following this, artists began to concentrate on the exploration of spirituality and symbolism in the artistic vocabulary and media. This resulted in n ascetic, pure and serious kind of art which was then overtaken by allegorical or mannerist art in the 1980s with the rise of Postmodernism19. It used figurative images to allude to tradition and mythology and represents a reversal of progressive, avant-garde modernism.

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Author: Ivy LIN II. Early Western Painting in China

2.1 The Influx of Western Culture to China

The influx of western culture to China can be traced back to the Ming(1368–1644) and Qing(1644-1911) Dynasties when Catholic and Jesuit missionaries introduced Western religion, culture and art to China. Unlike the literati tradition of Chinese painting, humanities and sciences were combined in Western painting. To the court of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Western painting was no doubt something unique and new. During the Ming Dynasty, the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci(1552-1610) offered the Chinese emperor Shen Zong two religious paintings, thereby opening the eyes of the courtiers to Western art. The key figure who systematically introduced Western painting to China was an Italian Jesuit, Lang Shining20, (Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766). He came to China in 1715 (the 54th year of the reign of Kangxi) and worked as a court painter under three successive reigns: Kangxi(1662-1722), Yongzheng(1723-1735) and Qianlong(1736-1795) for a total of 51 years. With the introduction of certain techniques in oil painting and scientific perspective, he painted numerous portraits and animal paintings in ink (Fig. 1). His works are rendered in a classical, elegant style using delicate brushstrokes, perfectly exemplifying the detailed realism of 18th century European landscape painting.

From the late 18th century, many foreign painters visited China and painted Chinese scenes as mementos of their travels east. These works became popular and were imitated by commercial painters for export (Fig. 2). In the late 1850s, many art shops supplying these “trade paintings” which originated in Guangzhou set up branches in Hong Kong or even moved to Hong Kong. Examples included the Yeehing art shop set up by Youqua21 (active 1840-1870) and the Hong Kong branch of Sunqua22 (active 1830-1870) painting store. These export paintings later influenced the style of commercial illustrations, such as calendars, advertisements (Fig.3) and wrapping paper. Combining the Chinese fine brushwork with the meticulous drawing of Rococo, painters created highly realistic and decorative works, which enjoyed wide currency.

2.2 The Initial Development of Western Art in China

Western painting was able to flourish in China thanks to artists who had studied abroad returning to China in the early 20th century. Most of them answered Cai Yuanpei’s call to use “Chinese learning as core and Western learning in practice” studying overseas to absorb foreign culture to supplement that of the Chinese. Such artists included Lin Fengmian (林風眠，1896-1994), Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻，1895-1953), Liu Haisu (劉海粟，1896-1994), Yan Wenliang (顏文樑，1893-1990), Pan Yuliang (潘玉良，1895-1977)

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Author: Ivy LIN and Pang Xunqin (龐薰琴，1906-1985) who studied in Europe. Some of them emphasized using European realism to comment on politics and society, while others merged Chinese and Western techniques to create a distinctive new style in ink painting. Others tried to follow modern art trends, exploring the Impressionist, Fauvist and Cubist styles. After returning to China, these early Chinese oil painters became teachers and stimulated the diverse development of Chinese painting in the early 20th century. While some of them visited Hong Kong during that period and even exhibited here, they did not have any direct impact on the development of Western painting in Hong Kong.

2.3 The Development of Western Art in Hong Kong

Such development actually spans about 100 years. Before the 1930s, only a handful of foreigners in Hong Kong practised Western painting as hobby or to fend off homesickness. As a result, foreigners were central in the realm of western painting. The Hong Kong Art Club, founded in 1925, is an example, being composed almost entirely of Westerners. It held a number of exhibitions and arts activities in Hong Kong which included an annual exhibition featuring members’ works and a monthly members’ meeting for sharing and appreciation. Before there was any formal Western art training in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Art Club admitted a few Chinese members and provided them informally with Western training.

In the 1930s, with the political upheavals and civil strife in China, many artists moved to Hong Kong because of its good transportation links and stable economy. Major figures active in literary and artistic circles who settled temporarily in Hong Kong included Li Tiefu (李鐵夫，1869-1952)23, who was the first painter to study art in the West according to Chinese history, also came to stay in Hong Kong in 1932. His works provided a great inspiration to Hong Kong painters. Although he settled here for such a short period of time, he had many followers. This talented painter who had received numerous awards in the US, was also highly respected in Hong Kong.

When the great economic depression hit Europe in the 1930s, many artists who had grown up and studied abroad came to Hong Kong and tried to make a living here. These artists include Qiu Daiming who returned from Paris, Li Bing (李秉，1903-1994), Yu Ben (1905-1995) and Huang Chaokuan (黃潮寬，1894-1971) who grew up in Canada, as well as Wu Buyun (伍步雲，1904-1996) who studied art in the Philippines. Since they had enjoyed the Western training, they were familiar with Western culture and painting style. They introduced elements popular in Europe and America to Hong Kong such as the style of Romanticism, the subject matters of Realism, as well as the colours and brushwork of the Impressionists and Expressionists. These painters became active members in Hong Kong art circles and maintained close ties to members of the Hong Kong Art Club, especially one of its few Chinese chairmen,

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Author: Ivy LIN Chen Fushan (陳福善，Luis Chan, 1905-1995).

• The Three Musketeers

Li Bing24 (Figs. 5-6) emmigrated to Hong Kong from Canada in 1930. He grew up and received art education in Canada. He graduated from Winnipeg School of Art and Ontario College of Art, and was strongly influenced by members of the Group of Seven in Canada. His works are characterized by succinct brushwork and bright colours. His favorite subject was landscapes and he was especially accomplished in watercolours and oil painting. Using thick brushstrokes and colour patches to capture changes in light and colour, he showed unique insights in his treatment of familiar subjects.

Through the recommendation of Chen Fushan, Li Bing joined the Hong Kong Art Club. In 1935, his compatriot and fellow student Yu Ben also came to Hong Kong. Together, they set up a studio in Kowloon City, attracting many painters such as Chen Fushan and Wu Buyun to come and discuss art (Fig. 7). At that time, the studios of Li Tiefu, Huang Chaokuan and Feng Gangbai (馮鋼百)were nearby and artists loved to meet up and exchange views.

After Yu Ben’s (余本)25 return to Hong Kong (Figs. 8-9), he started teaching painting. His works depict the life and work of the lower classes with vigorous brushstrokes. His colours were most influenced by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) and the Impressionists. He used the technique of realism combined with certain flavours of romanticism. His works, with their strong national character were highly regarded on the Mainland. When Xu Beihong came to Hong Kong to hold an exhibition in 1937, he was deeply impressed by Yu Ben’s paintings. Later, he invited him and Li Tiefu to paint in Guilin City in Guangxi. After returning to Hong Kong, Yu Ben participated actively in Western painting activities with Li Bing and Chen Fushan. The three painters held two joint exhibitions between 1947 and 1948 (Fig. 10) and were known as the Three Musketeers.

Unlike Li Bing and Yu Ben, Chen Fushan26 (Figs. 11-12) never studied painting formally. He was self-taught and learned from his fellow painters. In 1927, he took an external art programme offered by a London institute. His watercolours had become famous by 1930. He could paint so well and so fast that he was known as the “Master of Watercolour”. Chen Fushan worked hard at popularizing Western painting. Apart from managing the affairs of the Hong Kong Art Club, he founded Hong Kong Artists Group with Li Bing and Yu Ben to promote Western painting.

After the War, due to the economic downturn in Hong Kong, many artists wanted to start a new life.

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Author: Ivy LIN Yu Ben and Li Tiefu chose to return to China to help in its cultural development, Li Bing returned to Canada while Chen Fushan remained in Hong Kong. “The Three Musketeers” thus went their separate ways. Painters who stayed in Hong Kong opened their own studios to teach painting. Chen Fushan set up the Fushan Studio (1954), while Jin Weitian (靳微天)set up the Baihui Art School (1937). Wu Buyun set up a studio for teaching students and Chen Haiying (陳海鷹) founded the Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts. They contributed much to the teaching of Western painting and nurtured many talented young artists.

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Author: Ivy LIN III. Transformation - Hong Kong Painting in the 60s and 70s

3.1 The Social Development in the 60s and 70s

The development of painting in Hong Kong had undergone a transformation period in the 1960s & 1970s. Artists refer to it as a period of “root-seeking”. To understand this, we need to take a look at the social changes in Hong Kong of this period.

Prior to 1941, many Chinese considered Hong Kong as a haven and a place of temporary abode. They planned to return to their places of origin once the political situation stabilized in China. Many artists shared this idea. From the 1930s, due to repeated waves of refugees, Hong Kong became economically drained. At the time of the liberation of Mainland China in 1949, it was estimated that some 700,000 people fled to Hong Kong. As a result, the Hong Kong Government was forced to implement border controls. Since then, the mainland Chinese people have lost their right to enter and to leave Hong Kong freely. With the further implementation of the identity card system, Hong Kong Chinese have accepted Hong Kong as their permanent place of residence.

In the 60s and 70s, there developed a generation gap between young people born in Hong Kong after the War and their parents. The new generation were not fully aware of the situation in China and they found it hard to comply with the ideology of China. Whenever there was unrest in China, refugees would flood into Hong Kong, causing housing problems and widening the gap between the rich and the poor. This culminated in the riots and workers’ movement in the 60s. People were faced with the question of whether they were “Hong Kong people” or “Chinese people”. In the literary and art circles, people debated their cultural identity.

3.2 The Culture Environment in the 60s and 70s

In order to increase peoples’ sense of belonging, the Hong Kong Government set up a wide range of recreational and cultural facilities in the 60s. These included the opening of the exhibition hall in the Low Block of City Hall and the founding of the City Museum and the Art Gallery in 1962. The government also organized the first Contemporary Hong Kong Art Exhibition in 1969. Gradually art education became part of mainstream education. The establishment of the Department of Fine Arts in the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1963, the Extramural Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1965, and the founding of the Swire School of Design in the Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1967 all marked the establishment of a formal art education in Hong Kong. In 1962, the University of Hong Kong also set

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Author: Ivy LIN up the Fung Ping Shan Museum to support art research. Since then, the number of artists have increased, exhibition facilities have multiplied and exhibitions have been held on a larger scale. All these have provided a favorable environment for young artists of the new generation.

3.3 The Early Art Movement in Hong Kong

The transformation of Hong Kong painting in the 60s was inseparable from the Taiwanese and local literary movements. Between 1956 and 1957, the Fifth Moon Group and the Ton Fon group in Taiwan initiated changes in the local art scene. In Hong Kong, artists formed associations to explore the direction of cultural development. The Wen Yi Xin Chao magazine(文藝新潮, 1956) (Fig. 1) was very active in introducing Western Modernism. In its founding manifesto in 1959, the Modern Literature and Art Association (1958) called for “a renaissance of our cultural ideas”. During the same year, the Association published the Xin Si Chao magazine(新思潮)(Fig. 2) and in 1963, the Hao Wang Jiao magazine(好望角) (Fig. 3) was published to promote literature, art criticism and art creation. From 1960 to 1963, the Association staged three Hong Kong International Salon of Paintings.

Modern art trends challenged artists working in the naturalistic style. The painting Salons rejected the work of Chen Fushan(Luis Chan), who was considered the “King of Watercolour”. Chen Fushan himself admitted that this caused a turning point in his career.27 The strange artistic language and modes of expression were a great challenge to both him and other painters. Since then, Chen Fushan has studied Cubism, Surrealism and Suprematism28 through reading foreign art magazines. He has made monotypes by dripping paints at random on zinc plates, and then transferring the pattern from the zinc plate onto paper. He has then transformed the colored paper into nightmarish faces and strange figures, animals and flowers. These works transcend the emotions and feelings of the artist. These dream-like artwork reflected the naïve nature of the artist.

• Chen Fushan and the Early Local Artists

Chen Fushan was one of the most creative and imaginative artists. In his work ‘Dreamland’(Fig. 4) he demonstrated his vivid imagination and his outstanding skill in watercolour. The images are composed of human figures, animals, insects and fish. He combined strange forms with warm colours and this created a poetic composition. Under the influence of modernism, Chen Fushan was one of the few artists who could break away from modernism with his own style. Under the Influence of modernism, some painters joined forces to form art groups to pursue their own artistic ideals. These painters included Han Zhixun(Hon Chi-fun), Zhang Yi(Cheung Yee), Yao

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Author: Ivy LIN Shaozeng(Jackson Yu), Guo Wenji, Jin Jianlun(King Chia-lun), Xu Rongsheng and Wen Lou(Van Lau). Together they formed the Circle Group in 1963 (Fig. 4) to explore the spirit of modernism in order to bring innovation to Hong Kong art. As Van Lau wrote in the catalogue for their inaugural exhibition, “Our predecessors have left behind a stronghold of a city. The creative team is outside the city. Bricks are considered as bounds and are deeply engrained in people’s hearts.” This shows the determination of the Circle Group painters to innovate.

Most painters of the Circle Group used modern creative forms to express the essence of Chinese culture. Starting with painting, they then went on to explore other media such as sculpture and printmaking. As self-taught artist like Chen Fushan, Han Zhixun used the simple forms of minimal art to explore Chinese culture, especially Taoist meditation. In his works ‘Volume and Time’ (Fig.6) and ‘When Mountains Roar’ (Fig.7), he uses modern forms to express Chinese philosophical ideas. The basic concept of “a circle encompassed by an outer square” reflects his thoughts on the universe, issues of life and death and metaphysical ideas.

Under these influences, modern art began to develop in Hong Kong in the 60s and 70s. The universities in Hong Kong recognized the importance of modern art and began to invite artists to lecture who had been directly exposed to modern art overseas . Kuang Yaoting(Kwong Yeu-ting) and Douglas Bland were such examples.

Born in Macao, Kuang Yaoting graduated from the Kansas State University with a Degree in Landscape Design in 1949. He also studied painting in Britain, France and Italy, and was very knowledgeable about the modern art movement. After returning to Hong Kong, he taught in the Architectural Department of The University of Hong Kong and the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

After returning to Hong Kong in 1957, Kuang Yaoting (鄘耀鼎) showed his work in the 6th Hong Kong Arts Festival Exhibition in 1960. While the previous Arts Festival exhibitions mainly featured the works of members of the Hong Kong Art Club, the 6th exhibition included the works of many Chinese artists and members of Chinese artist groups. The works of Kuang Yaoting, Douglas Bland, Lü Shoukun and Wucius Wong received very good reviews. Kuang specializes in oil painting and printmaking and he depicts elements from Chinese landscape and gardens using abstract and geometrical shapes (Fig. 8). Kwong emphasizes in his painting a harmonious composition and the expressiveness of thick oil paint. Apart from Chinese landscape and gardens, he also incorporates traditional motifs and symbols of Chinese art, such as bronze decorations and Han tile motifs into his works.

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Author: Ivy LIN

Douglas Bland (1923-1975) from Britain also received a modern art education abroad. Together with Kuang Yaoting and Lü Shoukun, they founded the Society of Hong Kong Artists. After arriving in Hong Kong in 1948, Bland frequently took part in exhibitions. He excelled in oil paintings. Inspired by the treatment of space in Chinese painting, he often used abstract means to depict Chinese mythology and landscapes (Fig. 9). His works evoke a kind of rhythmic poetry.

Bland, Kuang Yaoting and Lü Shoukun (呂壽琨) have received numerous awards in major art exhibitions and competitions in the 1960s. Combining the essence of eastern culture with the modern art trend, their works earned their place in the international scene and they have collectively developed a style of their own among the various forms of modern art. Their works were significant examples of interaction between international and local art.

In the 1970s, the Hong Kong Government went further in promoting local art. In 1976, the first Asian Arts Festival was organized to promote cultural exchange between Hong Kong and other Asian countries. In 1975, the first Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial organized by the Hong Kong Museum of Art presented Urban Council Fine Arts Awards were presented to the most prominent artists in the fields of Western Painting, Chinese Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Calligraphy, Drawing and in six other categories. This showed that the public had recognized the development of western painting in Hong Kong.

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Author: Ivy LIN IV. International Style – Hong Kong Painting in the 80s and 90s

4.1 The Social, Economic and Cultural Development in the 80s and 90s

In the 70s, the economy of Hong Kong began to prosper. In the 80s and 90s, Hong Kong became very wealthy. With the growing maturity of the political system and a sound financial system, Hong Kong was becoming an international city. However, under colonial government, policies for cultural development were only initiated by non-government bodies. With the establishment of the Arts Development Council in 1995, different art groups obtained subsidies. This resulted in more artistic development and exchanges. Artists strove to improve the creative environment, the channels for exhibitions, research and education and they generally contributed to a new dynamic scene in Hong Kong art.

Following the boom in the economy; more and more young people devoted themselves to art in the 80s. However, fear surrounding the handover of sovereignty back to Mainland China in 1997, resulted in many painters, who had came from the Mainland in the early years, to emigrate overseas. At the same time, a lot of local young painters who had studied abroad were willing to return to contribute to the development of art in Hong Kong. Most of them were born in Hong Kong after the War and had a sense of belonging to Hong Kong. These painters included Huang Yenkui (黃仁逵，Wong Yank) who studied in France and Zhu Chuzhu (朱楚珠), Cai Renzi (蔡仞姿), Han Weikang (韓偉康，Josh Hon), Chen Weibang (陳偉邦) and Chen Zhiling (陳志玲)who studied in the States. Having studied the traditions of Western art and having mastered the contemporary international style and artistic language, they went on to develop distinctive styles to express their individual creativity. Apart from exhibiting works, many of them taught in educational institutions. Many upcoming young artists in the 90s were their students and learned from them the essence of contemporary international art.

4.2 The Art Scene in the 80s and 90s

From the 80s, with China’s open door policy, many mainland artists came to Hong Kong for exchanges. A number of post-1989 avant-garde artists made use of the opportunity to go abroad29, while some famous mainland painters such as Wang Chunjie (王純杰), Xu Enqi (許恩琦), Wang Hai (王亥)and Yang Donglong(楊東龍) chose to move to Hong Kong to become a new force in the Hong Kong art scene. Though Hong Kong and the Mainland are geographically close by, their lifestyle and values were different. Prior to the 80s, there was little cultural exchange between the two regions. It was not until after the 80s that artistic exchange became more frequent. Due the different political and social environment, the

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Author: Ivy LIN developments in art were very different between Hong Kong and cities in the mainland. On the whole, artists from the Mainland received more academic training in the fundamental concepts and technique of traditional oil painting. This is reflected in the outstanding realism works of the painters Wang Hai and Xu Enqi (Figs 1-2). The subject matter used by these painters usually convey social and political implications. They tend to use painting as a medium to communicate their concept and ideas. Wang Chunjie’s paintings in the 80s (Fig. 3) illustrate his memories of life in the Mainland, the viewer is impacted by the sense of sorrow in the painting. The vitality conveyed in these paintings can also be felt in works by other painters from the Mainland, such as Yang Donglong (Fig. 4). Artists from the Mainland added a variety of styles to the local painting scene. However, since their arrival in Hong Kong, they were also influenced by modernism, which had developed in Hong Kong since the 60s and, as a group, had carried out bold experiments in subject matter and technique. Both Wang Chunjie and Wang Hai examined the fundamentals of painting and explored the possibility of developing three-dimensional work in order to break away from the forms of traditional painting.

In Hong Kong, the international style that was popular in the 80s and 90s had gone in different directions. One direction was neo-expressionism30, using bold lines and strong colours to express the feelings of insecurity and disorientation living in the city. Examples are the explosive and oppressive images by Chen Zhiling and Lin Yonghan (林永漢)(Figs 5-6). Another direction was to rearrange traditional subjects in new contexts to establish new meanings and symbols by discarding traditional approaches. This tendency was reflected in the works of Lin Xuhui (林旭輝), who borrowed images of the 19th century and earlier oil paintings and transformed them into modern subject matter (Fig. 7), and the works of Wang Hai, who used historical records to suggest the passage of time and a sense of futility. (Fig. 8). The third direction was to follow the spirit of Pop Art31 and Arte Povera32, adding images and objects to paintings in order to create the illusion of three dimensions. The work of Wang Chunjie and Chen Yuqiang are examples of this concept.

In terms of expression, painters had unprecedented freedom in the choice of materials in the 80s and 90s. Prior to modernism, painting was valuable and was highly respected. Under the use of multi media, traditional paintings were seriously being challenged. In addition to the two-dimensionality of painting, artists began to engage the use of imaginary space by using every day life images collaged onto paintings. Painters incorporated mixed media, installations, video and electronic media into painting, adding to its expressiveness and creating a variety of visual experiences.

In terms of meaning, with the introduction of new materials in painting in the 80s and 90s, artists now had more flexibility in the creation of imagery. The relationship between signifiers and the signified

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Author: Ivy LIN became increasingly complex. In creating imagery, apart from extracting ideas from Chinese culture, artists also sought inspiration from Western culture, philosophy and history to create their personal styles. The works of Pan Su (潘泝)and Deng Ningzi (鄧凝姿) (Figs.11-12) have the characteristics of using personal experiences to express their views on life and their lifestyles. Expressed in symbolism, the conflict and confrontations between the individual and the social environment became an artistic subject.

In the mid-80’s, the British government drafted the details of Hong Kong’s reunification with China, which marked the end of colonial politics and marked the rise of a new economic supremacy. This greatly altered the social outlook of Hong Kong. Artists responded by generating diverse modes of expression and neo- and trans-avant-garde art, mixing old and new ideas. Under the influence of the international style, the art of minorities, such as handicapped and women artists, attracted particular attention. Although feminist art has not developed as an independent genre, it has its unique attraction. With prosperity in the economy, women have more freedom and power than before. Women artists often show a remarkable insight in exploring the plight of women in a patriarchal society from a woman’s point of view. The large bouquets painted by Li Baoyi (李寶怡) (Fig.13) suggest an emerging female confidence and autonomy. Deng Ningzi (Fig.14) uses the soft and changeable symbol of “clouds” as a metaphor for the political power demonstrated by Tiananmen and suggesting the instability of the situation, while the empty land in Zeng Cuiwei’s (曾翠薇) work (Fig.15) seems to represent the undefined boundaries between dreams and reality. The imagery employed by these painters are creative, illustrating their awareness of the environment and contributing to the new art trends in Hong Kong.

The new millennium will be the most challenging for artists. With Hong Kong’s reunification with China in 1997, it has become part of China. The status of Hong Kong art in the general Chinese art world, as well as the cultural identity of Hong Kong art, are extremely controversial. The vogue for ‘root-seeking’ in the 60s has recurred at the turn of the century. While the 60s were concerned with the formal aspect of the merging of Chinese and Western art, the 90s shifted its attention to the cultural impact of such combinations. While some artists, such as Chen Yushen (陳餘生), Huang Yenkui, Lu Zhenguang (呂振光), Yan Lei (顏磊), Chen Hanbiao (陳漢標) and Zeng Cuiwei, continue to use painting as their means of expression, other artists add other ideas in their paintings, enriching its levels of the meaning and challenging traditional views. It is these artists who are now being challenged. When the choice of materials is no longer significant, what is the essence of art? How do we recognize the role of the artist from the work? What is the status of the artist in our culture? These are questions that will need further exploration.

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14 Hong Kong Visual Arts Appreciation – Web-based course for secondary school teachers (Painting)

Author: Ivy LIN I.

Fig. 1 Bison, 15,000-10,000 B.C., wall painting in the Altamira cave, Spain. Fig. 2 Horse, 15,000-10,000 B.C., wall painting in the Lascaux cave, France. Fig. 3 Greek vase depicting a warrior’s leavetaking, 510-500 B.C., Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich.

II.

Fig.1 Lang Shining: Figure in armour, ink and colour on silk, 332.5 X 232cm, Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Fig.2 Sunqua: Guangzhou Factories, 1855-1856, oil on canvas, 75 X 185cm, Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art AH 1964.195.

Fig.3 Kwan Wailung: The Drugstore of Guangzhou and Hong Kong, poster design.

Fig. 4 Li Tiefu’s works compose mainly of oil paintings and also many watercolours. This watercolour shows fluid brushstrokes and subdued colours with rich gradations. Reminiscent of Turner, it is subtly poetic with the manner of romanticism.

Fig. 5 Li Bing in his studio in 1950.

Fig. 6 Li Bing was skilled in oil and watercolour painting. After joining the Hong Kong Art Club, he went sketching with its members every Sunday. His watercolour sketches in soft colours are swiftly executed and show a great spontaneity. These sketches depict landscapes in a clear light, reflecting the painter’s good mood.

Fig. 7 Artists gathered in the Li’s private studio, with Mr Luis Chan in front and Li Bing at the back.

Fig. 8 The artist Yu Ben.

Fig. 9 Yu Ben was a skilled oil painter. His painting style was deeply influenced by the European painting tradition. His early works mainly depict farmers, fishermen and coolies, honouring the work of labourers. They are rich in realism, like the peasant paintings of Millet (1814-75). His

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15 Hong Kong Visual Arts Appreciation – Web-based course for secondary school teachers (Painting)

Author: Ivy LIN works show vigorous brushstrokes and rich colour gradations. The farmers he depicts are full of subjective romanticism.

Fig. 10 Photograph taken in 1947 at the joint exhibition of Li Bing (right), Chen Fushan (second on the right) and Yu Ben (left). The Hong Kong Governor Sir Alexander Grantham and Lady Grantham attended the opening ceremony.

Fig. 11 Luis Chan: Self Protrait, 1948, watercolour on paper, 36.5 X 27cm, Hong Kong Museum of Art AC1978.055.

Fig. 12 Chen Fushan was renowned for his watercolour sketches. With his keen powers of observation, he could finish a picture in a matter of minutes. The position of the voids in this sketch shows the care in his composition. His brushstrokes are precise and his colours brilliant. The contrast between the dense and sparse parts on the composition creates a sense of depth and rhythm.

III.

Fig. 1 The cover painting of Wen Yi Xin Chao magazine(文藝新潮) ,13 was created by Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). Fig. 2 Xin Si Chao magazine(新思潮), 2. Fig. 3 Hao Wang Jiao magazine(好望角) was composed of the section Commentary, Theory, Poem, Fiction, Translated Script and Painting. Fig. 4 Chen Fushan, Dreamland (in part), 1979, ink & colour on paper, 38x1591cm. Fig. 5 Exhibition catalogue of the Circle Art Group in 1964. Fig. 6 Han Zhixun, Volume and Time, 1986, acrylic on canvas,122x122cm Fig. 7 Han Zhixun, When Mountains Roar, 1981, acrylic on canvas, 203x812cm Fig. 8 Kuang Yaoting, Chinese Garden IX, 1989, oil on board, 46x122cm. Fig. 9 Douglas Bland, Reflection(29), 1975, oil on canvas, 139x108.5cm.

IV.

Fig. 1 Wang Hai, From Tsuen wan to Central, 1992, oil on canvas, 154x274cm Fig. 2 Xu Enqi, Shadows, 1994, oil on canvas , 140x150cm Fig. 3 Yang Donglong, Peak, 1986, oil on canvas, 122x244cm Fig. 4 Wang Chunjie, Meet by Chance, 1989, mixed media, 234.5x400cm

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Author: Ivy LIN Fig. 5 Chen Zhiling, On My Boat Ride to Buy a Pig, pastel chalk and acrylic on paper, 75x105.5cm Fig. 6 Lin Yonghan, Incontinance, 1989, acrylic on canvas, 119.5x124cm Fig. 7 Lin Xuhui, 舞台下 (literally meant “Under the Stage”) ,1992, mixed media, 45x40cm Fig. 8 Wang Hai, Hong Kong History Series I, 1988, oil on canvas, 135x186cm Fig. 9 Wang Chunjie, A Scene in a Chess Board, 1988, mixed media on canvas, 141.5x142.5cm Fig.10 Chan Yuk Keung, Midnight Search, 1989, mixed media, 244x76cm Fig.11 Pan Su , 立場正確 (愛慾風景 IV)(literally meant “Position correctly” ( Scenes of Desires IV), 1992, media media Fig.12 Deng Ningzi, They’re Growing Up, 1996, mixed media on canvas, 159x206.5cm Fig. 13 Li Baoyi, Clairvoyance, 1993, oil on canvas, 213x264cm Fig. 14 Deng Ningzi, Beauty, Happiness and Intelligence VI, 1995, mixed media on canvas Fig. 15 Zeng Cuiwei, Meeting, 1999, acrylic on canvas, 122x122cm

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Author: Ivy LIN Biography

Ivy LIN

Graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with major studies in Fine Arts in 1987. Further graduated with a Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies from the University of Sydney in 1998. Served as an Assistant Curator in the Museums Section of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department since 1989 and is currently the Assistant Curator at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre of the Art Promotion Office. She has managed many local and international exhibitions over the years and her writings have been published in exhibitions and local publications.

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Author: Ivy LIN Notes

1 Foreshortening uses the laws of perspective to make something appear shorter than it actually is in order to create a three-dimensional. Evidence of this new conception of space appears in the Greek black-figure style of the Archaic period.

2 The Renaissance, an intellectual and artistic movement, began in Italy in the 14th century and reached its height in the 16th century. The term “Renaissance” means “rebirth”: the rebirth of classical styles and values. The two principal components of Renaissance style are a revival of the classical forms originally developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and an intensified interest in secular life in humanism and the importance of the individual.

3 Mannerism, derived from the Italian “maniera greca", refers to a formal art style that dominated Italian painting from 1520 to 1600. Artist Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) used it to denote a painting style that relied on subjectivity rather than observation. Considered restless and passionate, this style uses distorted, elongated and exaggerated forms and subjective colours to create emotive effects.

4 18th century France, impoverished after the reign of Louis XIV (1643 – 1715), saw the rise of common people and liberal thought. Many aristocrats abandon their grand Baroque palaces for smaller houses delicately embellished with gold and this movement influenced painters' choice of subject matter and technique. The term “Rococo” came from the French word “rocaille”, referring to fancy rock-work.

5 Neo-Classicism developed following the excavation of the ruins of the Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii in 1738 and 1748 in Italy. Artists painted rationally and harmoniously, frequently using contemporary settings to illustrate classical morals and thinking.

6 Romanticism refers more to an attitude in creating art works, rather than a conscious movement or style. It first appeared in England during the first half of the 18th century and was initially applied to literature rather than the visual arts. Artists believed that ruined landscapes effectively reflected the passage of time and the limitations of man and his life, and thus enhanced the spiritual and emotional power of their works.

7 The name “Impressionism” was taken from Claude Monet’s (1840-1926) painting Impression: Soleil levant, and was used by the magazine Charivari to characterise the work in an 1874 exhibition. Rejected by the official salon in 1873, these works were shown in April 1874 at an exhibition organized by the artists.

8 A branch of Impressionism, Neo-Impressionsim was led by Georges Seurat (1859-1891) and Paul Signac (1863-1935). The Neo-Impressionists applied paint to canvas in very small, closely juxtaposed dots of pure undiluted pigment in strong contrasting colours; viewed from a sufficient distance, dots created a particularly vibrant effect.

9 The painters Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Paul Gauguin (1848-190-03), Emile Bernard (1867-1947) and Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) were representatives of Post-Impressionism. Although they rejected some of the approaches of Impressionism, they continued the Impressionist tradition of rejecting traditional subject matters and conventions. © All rights reserved. No portion of the material may be reproduced in any form by any means, without written consent.

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10 Cubist painters emphasised the representation of natural form as geometric shapes seen from several angles at different time.

11 Fauvist painters expressed their emotions by the use of simple forms and vivid colours.

12 Originating in France, Expressionism flourished in Germany. Influenced by Van Gogh’s intense, expressive colour scheme, Expressionist art developed expressive styles that depicted the stress-filled conditions of modern life.

13 Surrealism became popular during the years of the First and Second World Wars. Painters were influenced by Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) The Interpretation of Dreams and sought to explore different ways to depict dreams and subconscious fantasies in their work.

14 New Objectivity is a form of realism that emerged in Germany in the 1920s. Focussing on a direct method of depiction based on tangible reality, works generally portray post-war society and explore issues in human nature such as good and evil.

15 Neo-Plasticism was a geometric abstraction style popular in the Netherlands. It was founded by painter, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), who used horizontal and vertical lines in black, white and grey, and color blocks in primary colours to express harmony and order.

16 An abstract art popular around 1950, Lyrical Abstraction aimed at intuitive and spontaneous expression.

17 Geometric Abstraction used basic geometric shapes and lines to construct abstract space on the picture plane, in order to create a rhythmic beauty close to nature. Its representatives included Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson (1894-1982)

18 Action painting is an art of movement. Characterized by splashing and dripping paint on the canvas, artists convey and record their subconscious thoughts and desires during the process of creation.

19 In 1975, the term “Postmodernism” was used by Functionalist architect, Charles Jencks, who thought art and architecture since the 19th century had been uninteresting and overly reductive.

20 The Italian missionary Lang Shining (Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766) was a court painter to the Emperors Kangxi(1662-1722), Yongzheng(1723-1735) and Qianlong(1736-1795). He was noted for his realistic painting style. He died of illness in China in 1766 (the 3rd year of the reign of Qianlong).

21 Youqua (active 1840-1870) was a master of trade paintings active in the 19th century Guangzhou. His forte was painting port scenes, but he also painted still life watercolours of flowers. He owned art

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shops in both Guangzhou and Hong Kong called Yeehing.

22 A famous export painter in Guangzhou, Sun Gwa (active 1830-1870) was skilled in painting port scenes in oil and watercolour. Around 1857, he set up an export painting branch in Hong Kong.

23 Li Tiefu (1869-1952) was a native of Heshan in Guangdong province. At the age of eleven, he came to Hong Kong to join his uncle and later settled in the United States. Between 1878 and 1887, he studied painting in London. When he returned to the States, he studied at a New York art academy and various art schools, and received several artistic awards. To show support for the Revolution, he went back to China and held an exhibition in 1931. He came to stay in Hong Kong in 1932 and moved to Guangzhou after the end of the Sino-Japanese War. In 1948, he moved back to Hong Kong where he died of illness in 1952.

24 Li Bing (1903-1994) was born in Taishan. In 1883, his father went to the United States to work in railroad construction. A few years later, he became an interpreter. When he went to Canada to set up a business in 1903, he took Li Bing with him. Li Bing received education in Canada, graduating from the Winnipeg School of Art and the Ontario College of Art. In 1930, he came to settle in Hong Kong with his family. After his arrival, he was employed as an advertising designer by the Queen’s Theater and was the first in Hong Kong to produce large theatre billboards. He also set up his own studio and participated actively in the activities and exhibitions organized by local art groups. In 1955 he took his wife and children back to Canada. He died in 1994.

25 Yu Ben (1905-1995) was a native of Taishan. In 1918, he went to study and work in Canada, and was a fellow student of Li Bing at the Ontario College of Art. In 1935, he came to Hong Kong to paint and teach. In 1956, at the invitation of the Chinese Government, he settled with his family in the Mainland. His works have been exhibited many times in Hong Kong and in mainland China. He was a deputy to the National People’s Congress and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He held many important posts in art institutions in China, including the vice president of the Guangdong Painting Academy.

26 Born in Panama, Chen Fushan (Luis Chan) (1905-1995) settled in Hong Kong at the age of five. In 1927, he took a London external art programme and taught himself painting. Chen had worked in a law firm and could speak fluent English. He was one of the few Chinese members of the Hong Kong Art Club. He set up the Hong Kong Artists’ Guild in 1936 and his private studio in 1953 to teach students. In 1960, he founded The Chinese Contemporary Artists’ Guild. He published several books, including Fushan on Painting (1953), How to Paint Portraits (1954), An Introduction to Chinese Painting (1954), English Calligraphy Copybook (1961) and The Drawings by Old and Contemporary Masters (1980).

27 In page 10, the preface of the exhibition catalogue The 50-year Career of Luis Chan, Chen Fushan wrote: “My work reached an impasse in the early 60s. At that time, the local art scene began to focus on new painting trends. Realistic painting seemed to be outdated.”

28 Suprematism was a nonfigurative painting style developed by Kasimir Malevich (1878-1935), who advocated using new symbolic signs to express feelings. He employed forms derived from the square, © All rights reserved. No portion of the material may be reproduced in any form by any means, without written consent.

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Author: Ivy LIN

the triangle and the circle to create a sense of rhythm.

29 In 1989, a Chinese avant-garde exhibition was held at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Beijing.

30 Emerging in Europe in the early 20th century, Expressionism conveyed emotions and feelings directly through the distortion of form and exaggeration of colour. After the First World War, Expressionism became a dominant movement in Germany under Kandinsky and Klee (1879-1940). They have influenced many artists and the impact can be seen in various forms today.

31 Pop art was popular in Britain and the United States in the 50s and 60s. The images were taken from the mass culture. It showed the influence of pop culture, especially products of the modern technology and the ideology after the Industrial Revolution. Thus, pop art was also a reflection on modern culture. There was no restriction on the means of expression, as long as it had pop culture as subject matter.

32 Arte Povera was popular in Italy. Found objects were incorporated into works, whereby the original characteristics of the objects were emphasized.

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