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The Hong Kong Museum of Art is currently showcasing a series of painting and calligraphy created by the artists of Wu School of the mid-Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Entitled "The Literati Exchange: Wu School Painting and Calligraphy from the Xubaizhai Collection", the exhibition is opened to public until mid-September 2001.
Featuring over 40 works of Wu School selected from the Museum's Xubaizhai Collection, the exhibition gives the visitors some impressions of the life styles and close associations within the Suzhou literati circle.
The Wu area, referring to Suzhou and its vicinity, is not only well known for its beautiful scenery, but is also a centre of artistic activities in the Jiangnan region. The Wu School of painting played a significant role of passing on the already prevalent literati style of painting through a closely-knit network of mentoring of family members and students. Their close relationship, common artistic aspiration and social activities provided a pretext for much of their works. As a result, a large number of their works are visual records of gardens, travelogues, farewell scenes, etc.
Many of the subjects of the Wu School's paintings derived from the living environment like gardens, scenery around Suzhou, or everyday activities like literary exchanges and gatherings, travel to the mountains and rivers, bidding farewell, etc.
The garden was one of the most popular manifestations of the leisurely life of the scholars. Their ideal of garden and aesthetics behind was revealed through the design and composition of the garden. Apart, the garden was also an ideal place for holding literati gatherings, therefore, scene of garden became one of the popular subject of the Wu School's artists. One of the examples is Wen Zhengmin's "Cooling off the hot summer", which reveals a corner of Wen's ideal garden and displays a poetic association. Wen Boren (1502 - 1575) and Wen Peng (1498 - 1573) belong to the second generation of the Wen family. Their work "Fifteen views of the garden" depicts the composition of the Suzhou garden. Shen Hao (1586 - after 1661) of the late Ming Dynasty laid out the rock from Lake Tai - a common element of the garden - into an essential component of the landscapes in his album "Landscapes".
It was also a common practice for the artists to inscribe poems on paintings. The content of the poems often coincide with the subjects of the paintings. Fan Xun (1736 - 1799) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) had observed that the practice of inscribing poems on paintings was initiated by during Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), and matured during the Yuan (1271 - 1368) and Ming Dynasties. Chen Chun's (1483 - 1544) "Flowers", Shen Zhou's "Spring outing" and Wen Zhengming's "Poems on fallen flowers" on display are good examples.
Nurtured by the surrounding beautiful landscapes and the wealth amassed in Suzhou, the art of the Wu School is characterized by the lofty pursuit and artists developed a leisurely attitude towards life. They enjoyed traveling and building gardens, and they reflected their leisurely attitude in painting and calligraphy. The artistic ideal and attitude on life characterizes the differences of the Wu School from their predecessors in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
The current exhibition is held in the Xubaizhai Gallery of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, Second floor, Museum of Art. Audio Guide Service is available is this gallery. A series of fully coloured Xubaizhai Collection catalogues has been published for the purpose of study and appreciation.
The Hong Kong Museum of Art is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. It opens from 10 am to 6 pm daily (including Sundays and public holidays) and closes on Thursdays. Admission fee is $10, with half-price concession for senior citizens, people with disabilities and full-time students. Admission on Wednesdays is free. Members of the public are welcome to browse the Museum's website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkma/. For enquiries, please call 2721 0116.
End/Tuesday, August 15, 2000
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