Running from tomorrow (April 4) until June 3 at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, "A Pioneer of Modern Chinese Painting: The Art of Lin Fengmian", featuring more than 100 works, provides a comprehensive review of Lin's artistic career spanning 60 years. Pictured is a figure drawing of a hawker in ink. It was done in 1938 when Lin led the staff and students of the Hangzhou National College of Art to relocate to Yuanling in Hunan to escape the ravages of war. The confidently executed, forceful and crisp lines and the vibrant blue colour of the tunic the hawker wears retain the qualities of a watercolour drawing, signifying Lin's transition from Western painting to the new explorations in ink. The ravages of the Sino-Japanese War and the Cultural Revolution have left a very scarce quantity of Lin's early works. This drawing is one of Hong Kong Museum of Art's invaluable collections.   Close