In 1771, a young Yangzhou artist went to Beijing to seek work. He bought with him an unusual painting that would come to redefine his self-image as an artist. This young artist was Luo Ping (羅聘 1733-1799) and his painting was the Guiqu tu (鬼趣圖).Today, Luo is recognized as an important Yangzhou eccentric painter who pushed the barriers of Chinese painting conventions with his new mode of representations, and the Guiqu tu is seen as one of the important benchmarks of his career.

This lecture will examine how Luo’s handscroll painting of ghosts, which may have begun life possibly as a series of draft images, came to capture the attention of Beijing’s leading literati, and subsequently as one of Guangdong’s Four Great Treasures. Underpinning the investigation of the scroll’s social history is an examination of the reasons behind how pictorial depictions of supernatural world

About 100 Daoist objects and paintings dating from the Han to the Qing Dynasties have been selected from the collections of the Beijing Baiyunguan, Guangdong Provincial Museum, Foshan Municipal Museum, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum, along with various private collections. The works range from portraits of immortals, bronzes, porcelain, wood-carvings, calligraphy, rubbings, Daoist scriptures and ritual manuscripts. Permeating every aspect of the Chinese way of living, Daoism not only forms the core of Chinese religious thought, but has been a major inspiration and source for Chinese culture and arts.

Dr. Maggie Wan, a faculty member of the Department of Fine Art, CUHK, will lead us through the exhibition. Dr. Wan received her PhD from Oxford and is an expert on Daoist art and wrote her thesis on ritual implements in Ming porcelains.

Dr. Wan is an expert on Daoist art and received her PhD from Oxford. Her thesis subject was on the ritual implements in Ming porcelain..

The taste for things Chinese in 18th century Paris was partly owed to the move of the Versailles Court to the City of Paris, and the implications this had on artistic, intellectual and day-to-day life. Novel artistic and intellectual fashions flourished during this period, and a taste for Chinese decorative arts among the ruling classes developed concurrently. Exquisite examples of Chinoiserie art, including porcelain, a lacquered panel from the Chatelet City Hall, furniture, Chinese wallpaper, paintings with Chinese themes, maps and old photographs will be featured in this exhibition.

Join us for a delightful evening of French wines and hors d’oeuvres while being serenaded with 18th-19th c. music. Special guided tours will be provided by our curators.

Much is now known about the social life of the common people in the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) from relics unearthed by Chinese archaeologists in recent years. Using iconographic analysis and evidence from excavated bamboo and wooden documents, Prof. Lai, Associate Professor in the History Department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has been engaged in the study and exploration of Chinese social history of this period.

Refreshments will be served in the Friends’ room before the lecture

Originally designed by the Museum design team, the Friends’ tote bags are sturdy, light and attractive with leather shouder straps and lined interior. As they have been very popular, we are now introducing four new colors; poppy red, meadow green, sky blue, and desert beige together with contrasting color purse. Perfect for carrying documents, books and shopping, they also make ideal gifts.

$120 each. Your purchase will help us support the HKMA.

Friends’ Notecards