Preface
For thousands of years, the Chinese cultural landscape has been shaped by art salons, poetry clubs and gatherings dedicated to calligraphy, painting, and traditional performing arts. Today, in an era when people often meet ‘in the cloud’, these traditional salons and gatherings for poets, scholars and artists can appear old-fashioned. However, over the past century, many of Macao’s calligraphers and painters have fostered meaningful relationships in salons, where they have exchanged artistic ideas with both brush and ink. In recent memory, in fact, a restaurant in the city was even transformed into a hub for local artists. Macao is a small city where its residents have close ties with each other, so these salons are still popular and they are still an important cog in the development of the local art scene.
Seven decades ago, a group of Chinese calligraphy and painting enthusiasts from Hong Kong and Macao began meeting at Yu Un Restaurant in Travessa do Auto Novo every month. They created calligraphy works, paintings, pieces of poetry and seal carvings together and exchanged ideas as part of what became known as the ‘Yu Un Salon’. This group unintentionally struck a chord with the Lingnan art scene as a whole, elevating Macao’s artistic and cultural development to another level as a result. Later, the salon grew and became known as the ‘Yu Un Chinese Calligraphers and Painters Association of Macao’. The creative talents in the association were nurtured and the overall appreciation for Macao’s Chinese calligraphy, painting and seal carving scene grew both in the city and across the region. Today, the association has become a crucial exchange platform for Chinese calligraphy and painting in the city.
For such a memorable anniversary, the Macao Museum of Art is delighted to present A Gathering of Treasures: The 70th Anniversary Art Exhibition of the Yu Un Chinese Calligraphers and Painters Association of Macao. The show features 200 remarkable artworks by seven artists: Chui Tak Kei, Deng Fen, Luo Shuzhong, Situ Qi, Gan Heng, Lin Jin and U Kuan Wai. An array of seal carvings, calligraphy works, as well as paintings ranging from landscapes and figures to flowers, birds, fish and insects, are on display, with many couplets, scrolls, horizontal tablets, rubbings, albums, fans, handscrolls and letters to discover. The exhibits comprehensively showcase the veteran artists’ gifted talents and achievements, while also offering an invaluable insight into both the world of these skilled and virtuous creatives and the history of Macao’s calligraphy and painting scene.
The seven veterans had close ties as friends, teachers and students, but they each had different artistic concepts and demonstrated unique artistic styles. Some followed in the footsteps of the old masters without being bound by traditions. They strived to inject new ideas into traditional Chinese paintings. Some blazed a trail while nevertheless following a major principle of the Lingnan School which states that ‘the eclectic mix of Chinese and Western painting styles must be embraced as this blends ancient techniques with modern’. Some of the artists created works proficiently under the rules of gongbi, yet, without being bound by traditional principles, they boldly integrated Western watercolour techniques into their works. The seven talents had lofty ideals, taking on scholars’ attitudes from the Tang and Ming dynasties. Their forthrightness also reminds us of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.
Additionally, these seven creatives offered unique artistic perspectives and insights into their world. When Deng Fen discussed Chinese calligraphy and painting, the unrestrained, ambitious artist highlighted the importance of imagery, noting that ‘Chinese painting generally has a strong poetic quality. Imagery – inviting unrestrained and vivid approaches – should be focused on creating vitality’. Luo Shuzhong, noted for his unreserved and eccentric personality, often conveyed self-mockery mottos in his carved seals, one of which suggests that he could not gain fame because of his forthrightness. At the age of 68, he carved a seal with an inscription that reads ‘studying for 68 years without making any name’. He disapproved of the coarseness and vigour in famous Chinese painter Qi Baishi’s works – which fascinated many followers in his time – and considered that the art of seal carving should remain plain and moderate. The seven veteran artists were all distinguished painters excelling in various genres and subjects while honing their skills. The exhibition highlights their paintings of landscapes, flowers and birds, as well as their poetry and calligraphy works and some of their more emblematic pieces. These works include Chui Tak Kei’s orchids and bamboo, Luo Shuzhong’s ‘black tiger’ technique of imitating stone rubbings, Deng Fen’s ladies, Situ Qi’s kapok flowers, Gan Heng’s goshawks, Lin Jin’s calligraphy works in four styles and U Kuan Wai’s goldfish. Be it written or painted vigorously, boldly, fluidly or gracefully, each work conveys the artists’ distinctive personalities in brushwork and encapsulates their fantastic imagery and artistic spirit.
These highly talented creatives were adept at using both brush and ink. They created works harmoniously, no matter what the composition, colours, brushwork and imagery might have been. They worked together on poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal carvings as if the artworks were created by the same person. Their works convey a fluid expression of concepts and brushwork, as well as a strong bond. The seven maestros stood firm in friendship – sharing enthusiasm in brush and ink, warmly supporting each other and even promising to write epitaphs for one another. The art history these talents left and the anecdotes surrounding them are fondly remembered in Macao.
Yu Un stands tall in Macao and strives to further the association’s work beyond the city. Hailed as a pioneer when it comes to art alliances in the Greater Bay Area, the association attracts art enthusiasts from other regions. Luo Shuzhong and Deng Fen, who lived in Hong Kong, were regular members of the group. Visiting the ‘Yu Un Salon’ was always part of the itinerary for Hong Kong calligraphers and painters when they came the short distance to Macao. The salon was also an important hub for cultural circles in Hong Kong and Macao at that time. Since the 1960s and 1970s, Yu Un has organised many showcases of their members’ works while also fostering artistic exchanges with their peers in the Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong and in Macao itself. It has greatly promoted and developed the local calligraphy, painting and seal carving scenes while also passing on its own rich cultural legacy.
Macao is home to many clubs and associations, each boasting a mission or principles. In contrast, Yu Un has a simple goal – to create friendships among art enthusiasts. No single artistic perspective dominates the association and it never requires members to fulfil any specific commitments. In its early stage, the association did not assign its members any positions. Their bond relied on a collective spirit. Generally, an artist’s practice tends to reflect his or her feelings, cultural achievements and living conditions. The Yu Un veterans optimised the traditions of different cultural schools while at the same time seeking new ideas and perspectives. With an eclectic mix of expressions, they also delivered bold new approaches. The Yu Un artists sought to promote Chinese classical cultures in modern Macao, where East meets West. They gave no signs of being bound by traditions and later absorbed new members – Mio Pang Fei, Un Chi Iam and Kwok Woon – who practised Western painting techniques. The association’s commitment to furthering the local art scene has given Yu Un a unique place in Macao.
This exhibition celebrates Yu Un’s platinum jubilee by displaying pieces from the MAM’s own collection as well as invaluable works on loan from dedicated art collectors. A poem reads, ‘one rarely lives to 70 years old’. As the backbone of Macao’s art scene, Yu Un has continuously grown in times of change. Another Chinese saying has it that ‘70 is an age when one should go with one’s heart’. The Yu Un members never stop dedicating themselves to creating more artworks and pursuing their dreams together. Their devotion to promoting time-honoured Chinese traditions is, quite simply, a great model for present and future generations of artists to follow.
Un Sio San
Director of the Macao Museum of Art