Guangzhou Museum of Art
Located south of the Nanling Mountains, Guangdong developed its tradition of painting and calligraphy relatively late. Since the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing dynasty, the region's painting flourished thanks to its commercial growth and economic prosperity. This period marked a golden age that is characterised by the emergence of numerous masters who defined the pinnacle of Guangdong fine arts during the Qing dynasty. In landscape painting, Li Jian and Xie Lansheng were prominent, while Su Liupeng and Su Renshan led in figure painting. Ju Chao and Ju Lian were most notable in flower-and-bird painting. In addition to these figures, painters such as Gao Yan, Zhang Mu, Wang Houlai, Zhang Ruzhi, Zhao Ziyong, Xie Guansheng, Luo Anxian, and Liang Yuwei each distinguished themselves in their respective fields. Collectively, these artists shaped the vibrant art scene in Qing-dynasty Guangdong and established a significant artistic legacy that contributed to the development of Lingnan fine arts.
Since its establishment in 1957, the Guangzhou Museum of Art has prioritised the collection, research, and exhibition of Guangdong fine arts as its core mission. Over more than six decades, two principal collection categories have become the museum’s most distinctive features: Guangdong painting and calligraphy from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and modern and contemporary Guangdong fine arts. This exhibition presents nine exemplary works of Qing-dynasty painting and calligraphy from the museum's collection. Notably, Zhang Mu's ‘Eight Horses’ is of exceptional significance. This piece was successively owned by renowned connoisseurs Deng Shi, Huang Banruo, and Rong Geng. The connoisseurship inscriptions and colophons on the scroll provide visual evidence of the esteem and commitment to cultural heritage that Cantonese scholars and collectors demonstrated for their regional lineage during the Republican period.
The exhibition Lucidity in a Prosperous Era: Guangdong Paintings of the Qing Dynasty has been meticulously curated by the Macao Museum of Art (MAM), bringing together treasured pieces from the collections of four cultural institutions across three regions: the MAM, the Guangdong Museum (Guangzhou Lu Xun Museum), the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Guangzhou Museum of Art. We are deeply honoured to participate in this joint special exhibition and to share this grand occasion with our fellow institutions. Looking back to 2021, the exhibition Returning to Classics and Blazing a New Trail: A Retrospective Exhibition of Chinese Painting Research Association, curated by our museum, was also fortunate to receive the full support of our sister institutions.
Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao share close geographical ties, a common cultural lineage, and deep kinship bonds. We sincerely hope that this collaboration will not only present the brilliant chapters of Lingnan fine arts to the public of Macao and international audiences alike, but also serve as a bond to deepen interconnectivity within the museum and cultural sectors of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. By doing so, it aims to solidify the foundations of cultural exchange among the regions and foster the continuous inheritance and harmonious development of excellent traditional Chinese culture within the Greater Bay Area.
I wish the exhibition great success!
Luo Qi
Director of the Guangzhou Museum of Art