Romantic Views: 20th Century Chinese Landscapes

By Robert Amos February 16, 2004

} Romantic Views: 20th Century Chinese Landscapes at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria until March 7 (excepting February 17-21) “The principle reason I started collecting Chinese 20th century watercolour paintings was that it seemed to me that a great flowering was taking place in this media in China, in contrast to the ever more outrageous and ugly flowerings of so-called art in the West, where I truly believe the art community has all but lost its way.” Brian S. McElney Victoria is a tourist town. Our scenery is a free gift. It is up to us to develop cultural tourism. Therefore, it is a daily embarassment to me that we have no museum dedicated to our provincial collection of the work of Emily Carr. Furthermore, the collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is an enormous cultural asset which, despite the excellent efforts of its staff, is often left lying fallow. Pay attention, you politicians! During the 30 years I’ve been here the Gallery has proposed relocating to Ship Point, Rock Bay, the Old Post Office, the Bay, the Y Lot and Crystal Court. And, for a lack of political will, the gallery’s quest for a new home has been turned down every time. “A Modern Industrial City by the Waterside”, Qian Songyan, ink and colours on paper, circa 1960 Yet, at the same time, the gallery’s collection - in particular the collection of Asian art - has been showered with treasures worth far, far more. In the very near future the gallery expects to announce a donation, from a Toronto collector, of a gift worth more than $10 million. This will be added to the major gatherings of ceramics, textiles, ivory, amber, woodcut prints and folk arts already on site. For the moment, let us consider the 20th century Chinese paintings. This year curator Barry Till has selected 75 excellent landscapes from over 500 modern Chinese paintings which belong to the gallery. Our collection is not only far and away the best and most extensive in Canada - it’s one of the top ten on the continent. “Fairly high up in the top ten,” Till avers. The core of this remarkable group is a gift of 350 scrolls donated by Brian McElney of Hong Kong and Bath, England. During a long career as a top lawyer in Hong Kong, McElney focussed his collecting mania on ancient porcelain and jade. Quantities of these materials are on display in his private museum in Bath. Parallel to this, he decided to make a collection of at least one painting by every significant Chinese painter of the 20th century. Lacking space to hang them in the museum in Bath, he eventually gave the entire collection to Victoria. This kind of contribution attracts others. Chinese artists who show in Victoria have usually donated a painting to the collection. Collectors and artists who moved here have added to this trove. By now, western painting has effectively run its course - after Andy Warhol, we’ve been floundering with neo-this and retro-that. But Chinese art, drawing on tremendous cultural depth and a century of spectacular political and social turmoil, is currently in the midst of a magnficent flowering. landscape, Wang Jiqian, ink and colour on paper, collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria “The last quarter of this century has been a time of rapid changes of unprecedented scale for China,” Till has written. “It will undoubtedly be looked upon as one of the most creative periods in the history of Chinese painting... In terms of emotion, style and technique, a creative renaissance in Chinese painting on a grand scale has happened”. Let me outline, in a few broad strokes, this change. The ancient imperial age ended in 1911. Chinese painters soon travelled to Japan and Europe and added colour and spatial depth to their art. They took painting out of the court and gave it to the people. With Mao’s revolution in 1949, they adapted Socialist Realism, a twisted form of French academic painting come to China via Stalin’s Russia. Artists were sent, in the 1960’s, to work with peasants, and the peasant folk art, harnessed to propaganda messages, was elevated to high art. Then, in the 1980’s, the country was cracked open to foreign influences and capitalism. In the 1990’s new media, new ideas and new freedoms were thrown into the mix. This complex history is made visible in Victoria’s collection, which is fabulously rich. You may not yet know the names of Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong, but they are the Picasso and Matisse of China. Wang Jiqian and Wang Wuxie have developed terrific international careers, living in the US during much of the past half century. Zhang Bu and Koo Mei are painters of enormous talent and stature who now live here in British Columbia. In time all these names will be as well known here as they are in China. They all are represented in the current show. You don’t need to speak Chinese to enjoy these paintings , selected from among hundreds crammed into our Gallery’s basement. They are, simply, a delight to the eye and a wealth of inspiration to any painter. Those charged with the responsibility of developing our community must recognize that Victoria is poised to become a cultural magnet. This is a destination; the world audience is ready; and we possess, in abundance, the artworks which they want to come and see. Let’s get on with developing cultural tourism. ___________________________________________ Copyright © 2003 Robert Amos Robert Amos is an artist and art writer who lives in Victoria, B.C.. He can be contacted by e-mail and you can view his paintings at www.robertamos.com

• Posted: 2004-02-16