Across Time and Space

In the early twentieth century, oil painting as a non-indigenous medium began to be taught in Chinese art academies. Since that time, it has become an important and increasingly popular portal, inviting artists to explore cross-cultural dynamics and experiment with individual creative expression.

This selection of twentieth-century Chinese oil paintings from the UMAG collection sheds light on the art historical and cultural significance of the medium. Highlighting the versatile aspects of Chinese oil paintings across a diverse spectrum of themes, styles, techniques, time periods, and regional and local characteristics, this publication presents the depth and virtuosity of Chinese oil paintings, extending from intimate interior views to panoramic coastal landscapes. The collective and individual memories within urban scenes activate dialogues of painting practices across time, space, and cross-cultural and cross-media encounters.

The selected works display and represent the various artistic styles and visual trends as well as the artists’ evolving perceptions and sensitivities about the changing face of twentieth-century China. The works on display have rarely been shown in public and include paintings by iconic masters and influential art educators including Liu Haisu (1896–1994) and Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010).

The collection of Chinese oil paintings constitutes the foundation of UMAG’s educational work today. Since initiating its publicly accessible collection in the 1950s, UMAG has been closely connected to the development of twentieth-century Chinese painters and their work. It has also actively documented and studied the evolution of their artistic talents and the Hong Kong art scene.

在二十世紀初，中國藝術院校開始教授油畫藝術科目。自此，這項非本土的美術形式日益受歡迎，促使藝術家探索跨文化對話，及跨媒介交匯後在繪畫技法上的實踐和個性化表達。

精選作品凸顯了中國油畫的繽紛多元，涵蓋不同主題、風格、技法、時段和地方特色，技藝紛呈，既深且廣。從狹窄的室內景觀到廣闊的海岸風景，從個人與集體記憶到城市場景。

本展覽精選的作品代表著不同的藝術風格和視覺趨勢，展示出藝術家們對變化中的二十世紀中國的認知。本次作品鮮有展出，包括聲譽卓著的繪畫大師和美術教育家的畫作，例如劉海粟(1896–1994) 和吳冠中(1919–2010) 。香港大學大學美術博物館的中國油畫收藏是為今日美術博物館教育工作的基礎。自1950 年代向公眾展出館藏伊始，我們即與二十世紀中國畫家和他們的作品緊密相連，記錄和研究他們的藝術造詣及香港藝壇之風采。

Shuo Hua is an Assistant Curator at the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), The University of Hong Kong. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD from the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on East Asian paintings and art market studies in a transcultural context.

華碩是香港大學美術博物館的副研究員。她畢業於賓夕法尼亞大學，獲學士學位，並在香港大學取得博士學位。她的研究專注跨文化視域下的東亞繪畫和藝術市場研究。