When it comes to the Lingnan school of painting, a style of painting from Guangdong and Guangxi areas founded in the 19th century, people will normally mention its founders: Gao Jianfu (1879-1951), Gao Qifeng (1889-1933) and Chen Shuren (1884-1948), known as the “three masters of Lingnan.”
A visitor admires paintings at Shenzhen Museum. Photos by Cao Zhen
Calligraphic work by Wu Rongguang.
To trace the earlier styles of the Lingnan paintings, we shall have a look at the works of earlier painters. Now Shenzhen Museum is exhibiting 33 paintings and calligraphic works created by a group of Guangdong masters and scholars who were active before the forming of the Lingnan painting style. The exhibitors include Ju Lian (1828-1904), teacher of Gao Jianfu and Chen Shuren; scholar, calligrapher and reformer Kang Youwei (1858-1927); scholar, journalist and reformer Liang Qichao (1873-1929); as well as Xie Lansheng (1760-1831), Li Jian (1747-1799), Chen Feng (1810-1882) and Wu Rongguang (1773-1843).
According to the exhibition profile, booming foreign trade in Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was a driving force for the area’s cultural development. Scholars broke through entrenched conservative thoughts and began to actively seek to create and promote new schools and styles of art. Collecting antiques, including calligraphy and paintings, was a popular practice among merchants, scholars, officials and foreigners. This gave birth to the eclectic fusion of the traditional Chinese painting and Western painting styles.
The Lingnan style of painting was revolutionary and innovative and is still influential today.
Dates: Until May 26
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Monday
Venue: Shenzhen Museum, Block A, Civic Center, Futian District (福田区市民中心A区深圳博物馆)
Metro: Line 2 or 4 to Civic Center Station (市民中心站), Exit B
