29 & 30 September 2018
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hall 3
(Scroll down for the biographies of the speakers)
Saturday, 29 September, 2.30pm to 4pm
“Ink’s Brush with labour: The Work of Wang Meng (c. 1308 -1385) and Huang Binhong (1865- 1955)”
Roslyn Hammers, Associate Professor, University of Hong Kong
Wang Meng was labeled by the great Ming critic Dong Qichang as one of the Four Masters of the Yuan. The artist was deservedly celebrated during his life with Dong Qichang’s accolades that encourage later audiences to regard Wang Meng as a virtuoso of brushwork. This presentation will reclaim some of the complexities of Wang Meng’s paintings and situate them in the context of the Yuan dynasty. It will offer a close reading of his painting entitled Spring Tilling at the mouth of a valley to explore the ways in which Wang signaled his occupation with many types of labour, not only as a man of culture, but as a farmer, householder, scholar, recluse, and official. In Dr. Hammers’ interpretation, Wang Meng invites viewers to engage with the artist in an array of his productivity.
After gaining insight into meanings present in Wang Meng’s work, the presentation turns to consider the reception of this Yuan artist during the Republican era. Huang Binhong was particularly enthralled with Yuan painting and its role for the formation of Chinese modern art. The talk concludes by evaluation of Huang’s interpretation, both pictorially and textually, within its historic context. We can appreciate the ways in which paintings serve as sources of inspiration that possess great potential for unending interpretations.
English with simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin
Saturday, 29 September, 4.30pm to 6pm
“Wu Guanzhong’s artistic and affective connections with Hong Kong”
Szeto Yuen-kit, Curator (Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Collections), Hong Kong Museum of Art
Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) dedicated his entire life to exploring the modernisation of Chinese painting and the nationalisation of oil painting. He opened up a path for a modern taste that brought Chinese and western, past and present, in fusion. Wu was not only a renowned 20th century painter, but also an eminent art theorist and educator. He believed that artistic works should not depart from emotional exchange with the people, so he wished to create works that suited both refined and popular taste.
Wu Guanzhong frequently visited Hong Kong for exhibitions and art activities. Wu rated Hong Kong’s cultural setting highly. He liked the fair systems of the city, which was also a meeting point of the East and the West. Wu had always cherished and trusted the Hong Kong Museum of Art with high commendation on its curatorial and interpretation approach of his art and said, “It can read through and comprehend my artistic exploration.” He and his family have made many donations to the Hong Kong Museum of Art over the years, making up a huge and comprehensive collection of over 450 works, including his very last paintings completed before death. The Museum will showcase the master’s donated works in the new “Wu Guanzhong Art Gallery” in the second half of 2019. Educational and promotional activities will also be organized to propagate Wu Guanzhong’s art and his great spirit of selfless contribution.
Cantonese with simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin
Sunday, 30 September, 2.30pm to 4pm
“A Pleasure Shared: Chih Lo Lou Collection of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy”
Sunny Tang, Curator (Chih Lo Lou Collection), Hong Kong Museum of Art
The donation of the remarkable Chih Lo Lou Collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy to the Hong Kong Museum of Art reflects Hong Kong's status as the centre for preservation and conservation of Chinese cultural treasures with its unique positioning as a mix of East and West. The Chih Lo Lou Collection was established by the late Mr Ho Iu-kwong (1907 – 2006) with the mission to preserve Chinese painting and calligraphy, and promote the art and cultural heritage of China. The works in the collection span from the Song dynasty to the 20th century and chronicle the aesthetics of the different periods and regions. The most significant and prestigious artworks in the Chih Lo Lou Collection are those created by the “Ming loyalists” in the Qing dynasty that evoke their lofty aspirations and noble integrity. The talk will give an overview of the collection and introduce some of the highlights.
Cantonese with simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin
Sunday, 30 September, 4.30pm to 6pm
Panel Discussion: The art and legacy of Lui Shou-kwan
Lawrence Chu, Collector
Leung Kui Ting, Artist and former student of Lui Shou-kwan
Raymond Tang, Curator (Hong Kong Art), Hong Kong Museum of Art Josh Yiu, Director, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Moderator: Carmen Shek Cerne, Specialist Head of Sale, Chinese Paintings Department (Chinese Contemporary Ink), Christie’s Hong Kong
The panel will discuss the continuing impact and legacy of Lui Shou-kwan within the contemporary art world.
Cantonese with simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin
Biographies
Carmen Shek Cerne
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Carmen Shek Cerne is Specialist in the Chinese Paintings Department in Christie’s Hong Kong and Head of Sale for Chinese Contemporary Ink. She joined Christie’s in 2009 and in 2013 curated Beyond Tradition, Christie’s first exhibition devoted to Chinese contemporary ink paintings, which travelled to New York and Hong Kong. In 2014, she launched the twice-yearly auction for the category. Carmen works closely with collectors worldwide to assemble and manage their collection of Chinese paintings. She focuses on client advisory and business getting in Hong Kong and overseas, as well as catalogue and exhibition planning.Prior to joining Christie’s, Carmen was Assistant Curator at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. She was educated in Hong Kong, Italy and the UK, and holds a BA in Ancient History and Social Anthropology from University College London.
Lawrence Chu
Lawrence Chu is an entrepreneur, art collector, and the Founder and Chairman of BlackPine Group. He serves on many committees in finance, art and education, including the Hong Kong United Youth Association, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association serving on the Venture Committee, as well as Chinese International School as the Chairman of the Finance and Development Committee. Lawrence is a member of the Tate’s Asia-Pacific Acquisitions Committee, a Patron of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Council in Beijing, as well as governor of the Smart Museum Board of Governors at the University of Chicago. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Economics.
Roslyn Lee Hammers
Dr. Roslyn Lee Hammers is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong in the Department of Fine Arts. A specialist in Chinese painting, her research interests include representations of labor and imagery with scientific or technological content. She has written Pictures of Tilling and Weaving: Art, Labor, and Technology in Song and Yuan China (2011, HKU Press) and has published articles on other aspects of the representation of labor, techniques, and tools in visual culture from the Song to Qing eras. She is presently working on a book-length manuscript entitled “Ennobling Labor: The Imperial patronage of the Pictures of Tilling and Weaving in eighteenth-century China.”
Leung Kui Ting
Born in Guangzhou, Leung Kui Ting moved to Hong Kong at the age of 3. At 19, he began his studies in painting under Lui Shou-kwan. He later took graphic design classes with Wucius Wong. Leung has experimented with multiple media and techniques since the 1960s, including ink, oil, woodcut, sculpture and graphic design. He has focused on painting with ink since the mid-1980s. Influenced by his background in design, Leung focuses on the structural elements and compositions of his works. In his ink paintings, he combines traditional brushwork with geometric lines and shapes. In his recent oeuvre, Leung assimilates the technological vocabulary of the digital age into his landscapes to create a distinct artistic language.Leung Kui Ting’s work have been collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art; Hong Kong Heritage Museum; Museu Luis de Camoes, Macau; Singapore National Gallery; and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University.
Szeto Yuen-kit
Szeto Yuen-kit received his BA (Art Education) from Warwick University, MPhil (Chinese Art History) from Hong Kong University, and Diploma in Museum Studies from Sydney University. Since 1986, he has been Curator of the Hong Kong Museum of Art responsible for the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Department, including the Xubaizhai, Chih Lo Lou and Wu Guanzhong collections. His expertise is in Ming, Qing and 20th century Chinese paintings, as well as in subjects related to Chinese art education. He has published many academic articles and delivered lectures in universities and educational institutes in Hong Kong and mainland China. He is an academic member of the Wu Guanzhong Research Centre (Tsinghua University) and Researcher of the Beijing Painting Academy. Important exhibitions organised by him include The Pride of China: Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Ming and Qing paintings from the Liaoning Provincial Museum, Paintings from the Shanghai Museum and Song, Yuan and Ming paintings from the Osaka Art Museum. He had also organized many solo exhibitions of 20th century masters including Qi Baishi, Li Keran, Lin Fengmian, Huang Yongyu, Pan Tianshou, Feng Zikai and Wu Guanzhong. From 2004-06, he broadcast a series of talks on Chinese art appreciation on Radio Television Hong Kong.
Raymond Tang
Dr. Raymond Tang is currently Curator (Hong Kong Art) at the Hong Kong Museum of Art and Vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Curators Association. He received his PhD degree in Chinese art history at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006. He also gained a Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies (The University of Sydney & HKU, SPACE) in 2002. His research interests include Ming, Qing and 20th century Chinese painting and calligraphy, Guangdong paintings and calligraphy, and Hong Kong art. The most recent exhibitions he has organized are Ming and Qing Chinese Arts from the C.P. Lin Collection, Maritime Porcelain Road: Relics from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Museums, The Legacy of Liangzhu Culture: Neolithic Relics from the Zhejiang Provincial Museum and In Search of Zen: The Art of Lui Shou-kwan. In the past two years, he has led his team to implement the Jockey Club ‘Museum of Art on Wheels!’ Outreach Learning Programme.
Sunny Tang
Sunny Tang graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1990. He received his Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies from the University of Sydney in 2000 and MPhil degree in Chinese Art History at CUHK in 2006. He entered the curator grade of the Hong Kong Government and is currently Curator (Chih Lo Lou Collection) of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Over the years, he has organised many exhibitions and has been conducting research in the field of Chinese painting and calligraphy.
Josh Yiu
Prof. Josh Yiu is the Director of the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received his BA in Art History from the University of Chicago, and completed his doctorate at Oxford University. From 2006 to 2013, he served as the Foster Foundation Curator of Chinese Art at the Seattle Art Museum. At The Chinese University of Hong Kong, he has curated and supervised over twenty special exhibitions. A specialist in late imperial and modern Chinese art, his book publications include A Fuller View of China: Chinese Art at the Seattle Art Museum and Two Masters, Two Generations, and One Vision for Modern Chinese Painting: Paintings by Gao Jianfu and Lui Shou-kwan in The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Oxford.