Section 4
The Legacy: Adherence to the Figurative and East-Meets-West Trends
In the second half of the 20th century, pioneering painters such as Tam Chi Sang, Kam Cheong Ling, Chen Shou Soo, Chio Vai Fu and Wong Pui-kong set up studios for art teaching besides dedicating to creation, cultivating many emerging artists for Macao. Thus, different artistic concepts and painting styles were taught and passed down from masters to disciples.
A master in oil painting, watercolour and sculpture, Tam Chi Sang taught in several schools, while also founding his own Chi Sang Studio to teach art and nurture many talents. Kam Cheong Ling established the ‘Macao School of Fine Arts’ before setting up a studio at Rua dos Ervanários, encouraging students to create freely. In 1953, Chio Vai Fu, being proficient in oil painting and watercolour as well as Chinese painting and calligraphy, started using his abode in the Wenchang Hall of the Mandarin’s House as a venue to teach, naming it Chiwatang studio. Chen Soo Shu, who sojourned in Macao briefly in 1971, introduced the realist style from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome to Macao’s oil painting circle. Persisting on realism oil painting, he hosted lectures and training sessions. Oil painter Wong Pui-kong created the highly experimental Jiugong Bagua painting method. He was good at landscape painting, with a style between the figurative and the abstract.
This section showcases 30 works, including oil paintings, sketches and Chinese paintings by Macao artists. These landscapes, figures and still lifes offer us a chance to interpret the diversity of Macao art. Some of the painters drew inspiration from real life, presenting personal reflections in a realistic or figurative way. Others explored, through multi-dimensional thinking on Chinese and Western paintings, the appropriate approach to convey modern art concepts with simple ways of expression, leaving behind works full of humanistic spirit and distinctive personal style for future generations.