Foreword
An Artistic Trend that Blends Chinese and Western Styles -- Multilineal Development of Western Painting in Macao
The Portuguese settled in Macao from the mid-16th century onward. With the booming commerce and trade as well as the different Catholic orders coming to Macao to build churches, the city became a melting pot of Eastern and Western cultures. The history of oil painting in Macao, as an integral part of the Chinese art history, marked the beginning of the spreading of Western painting into China.
Father Michele Ruggieri (1543 – 1607) and Matteo Ricci (1552 – 1610), who arrived in Macao in 1579 and 1582 respectively, brought religious icons to the mainland for missionary purposes, thus heralding oil painting’s entry into China. Macao-born Emmanuel Yu Wen-hui (1575 – 1633) painted ‘Portrait of Matteo Ricci’ in Beijing in 1610, which is the earliest extant oil painting made by a Chinese. In 1614, Giovanni Niccolò (1560 – 1626), who had returned to Macao from Nagasaki, Japan, taught painting at St. Paul’s College. Therefore, the Diocese of Macao now has a large collection of oil paintings from the late 17th century and onward, including ‘St. Michael Archangel’, ‘Portrait of Deceased St. Sebastian’, ‘St. Francis Xavier Baptised’, etc. Among them, ‘Christian Martyrs of Nagasaki’ created by Mateus Van in Macao in 1640, is the earliest extant oil painting in China. In the Qing dynasty, noteworthily, most of the missionary painters who worked in the Imperial Court went to Beijing via Macao. Hence, it can be said that the first chapter of Chinese oil painting history started in Macao.
During the 18th and mid-19th centuries, many Western painters visited Macao. One was George Chinnery (1774 – 1852), a graduate from Royal Academy of Arts, London. The artist lived in Macao from 1825 to 1852. With an influence on Cantonese export painters such as Lamqua (Guan Qiaochang, 1801 – 1860), he was praised as the most influential Western painter in South China. Marciano Baptista (1826 – 1896), a Macanese, developed his own style merging Western painting skills inherited from Chinnery.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the number of Chinese and Western painters sojourning in Macao had increased by the day, and the artistic ideas of ‘blending Chinese and Western styles and integrating the ancient and the modern’ gradually took shape in the enclave, thus starting the localisation of Western painting in Macao in a real sense. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Agression and the period before and after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a considerable number of Guangdong painters moved to Macao, where artistic exchanges became frequent. Later, the establishment of Macau Artists Society and Rainbow Art Group further improved Macao’s artistic conditions, with artists from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds jointly promoting the development, reform and localisation of Macao Western painting.
The mid-1980s marked the start of the flourishing of modern art in Macao, which can be considered the second phase of local Western painting development. The third phase began in 2000, a period of greater diversity thanks to a new generation of young artists. Through several generations of artists, the three phases of Western painting development in Macao have revealed a deep streak of East-meets-West characteristics.
The exhibition, entitled Prelude to Macao’s Modern Style, shows more than 150 excellent works by over 60 artists that allows us to chart the two main threads of development in the creative field of Western painting by artists from Macao or those having an important connection with Macao from the early 20th century to the mid-1980s, i.e., the influences of Western realism painting and modernism on Macao art. In those times of scarce resources, artists preferred to present the real life of their time with realistic techniques, and some artists, influenced by Impressionism, Fauvism, Abstraction and other artistic trends, broke through realism trying to create new painting styles. Comprising four sections, the exhibition focuses on artists and events of Macao, intertwining artistic experiences of major artists and their disciples in different periods. In a chronological fashion and incorporating relevant documents from historically important art exhibitions, the exhibition will lead us to explore in retrospect this maturation of Macao modern art full of romantic feelings.
Painting is a romantic art, an approach for sheer lyricism and expression. In the works in this exhibition, the images associated with Macao become a reflection of the spirit that can be transformed and passed on. Macao, an important hub of the sea silk road, is also a meeting place of Eastern and Western cultures. In these works, the zeitgeist and significance of the city were the artists’ object of exploration at the time. They are carriers of the historically important period, able to generate a unique meaning – that is, the significance of the art history of Macao in Chinese art history – when presented in aesthetic terms. The development of Macao fine arts is also the accretion process of Macao culture. In the past hundred years or so, several generations of artists have tried to localise Macao Western painting, leaving a legacy of eternal glory in the history of Macao art. The meaning of art needs to be recognised and comprehended, which in itself is a kind of spiritual legacy. At present, the new generation of artists has broadened the platform for Macao’s art, constructed a more diversified ideological system, and explored a more sustainable way for artistic progress. We hope visitors can get closer to the life of artists and discover more possibilities for Macao art in an art world where traditional and modern aesthetics still coexist.
The curating work of this exhibition required defining the theme, periodising the history of art, summarising artistic styles, selecting exhibits, and managing the full presentation effects. Mr. Chan Kai Chon and Ms. Kan Pui Ian, researchers at MAM, have verified historical documents about relevant artistic events. Their substantial and effective research work has supported the overall structure of this exhibition, enabling the presentation of the historical context of Western painting in Macao in a rigorous and clear-cut way.
We would like to thank all participating artists and collectors for their generous lending of works to support this art event. The study of the collection and art history is a determined effort, which also further enriches the collection. Inevitably there are some deficiencies in exhibition curating and in documents and materials for studies. We are pleased to invite art peers to give us advice.
Noah, Ng Fong Chao
Curator