*********************************************************

The following is issued on behalf of the Provisional Urban Council:

A new selection of more than 170 items of Chinese painting and calligraphy, most of them recently acquired by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, is currently displayed in the Chinese Fine Art Gallery, greeting museum goers with a comprehensive image on the unique artistic expression of the Guangdong region.

On top of a variety of traditional Guangdong painting and calligraphy, the new display also features contemporary Chinese painting by artists of the 20th century as well as paintings by Chen Shuren -- one of the three masters of the Lingnan School.

Artists of the 20th century have expanded the realm of Chinese painting beyond the confines of the East and the West under the influence of revolutionary thoughts. Placing special emphasis on reality and modernity in artistic expression, the Lingnan School artists display those innovative sources in the Guangdong region. Chen Shuren's paintings are some of the examples of this kind.

Although Chen's revolutionary belief on the art of painting is similar to that of the other two Lingnan School masters , Gao Jianfu and Gao Qifeng, his own sentiments and life experience lead him to develop a rather different approach in style.

The painting, "Boy and Donkey" (pictured), completed in 1945, is one of the examples which illustrates well Chen's unique style. The painting was an expression of deep sympathy and respect of the artist to a boy who, at a tender age, had to take the burden of looking after his family. Chen Shuren had a special feeling for those lower class people and the miserable life of these people sometimes became subject of his painting. At that time it was not a normal practice to put people of the time into paintings. Chen's paintings of this kind revealed the spirit of reform in his art.

Kapok, a local plant of Lingnan, is also one of Chen's favourite subjects. Growing tall and straight with exceedingly beautiful flowers, kapok is always used in Chen's paintings to symbolize the character of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. In the painting "Spring in Lingnan" (pictured), Chen used Western water colour to enhance the red effect of kapok.

The Hong Kong Museum of Art opens from 10 am to 6 pm from Monday to Saturday, and from 1 pm to 6 pm on Sundays and public holidays. It closes on Thursdays. Admission fee is $10, with half-price concessions for senior citizens, people with disabilities and full-time-students. Admission on Wednesdays is free. For enquiries, please call 2734 2167.

End/Friday, February 19, 1999

NNNN