Overseas Lingnan School painters hold exhibition in Guangzhou

An exhibition featuring works by 48 famous painters of the Lingnan School of Painting got underway at Gao Jianfu Memorial Hall in Guangzhou on June 9.

The "Return Home" exhibition, held by the painters hailing from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and some overseas countries including the US and Canada, is the first of its kind in both theme and scale and will be an annual event from this year onwards.

The Lingnan School of Painting, also called the Cantonese School of Painting, is a style of painting from the Guangdong or Lingnan region of China. This school reflects a style of painting founded in the 19th century in Guangdong province by Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng and Chen Shuren who were collectively known as "the three greats of Lingnan".

The Lingnan style of painting is seen as being more experimental than traditional Chinese painting and is characterized by focuses on blank space and strokes, bright coloring and rendering of background colors. This school enjoys considerable fame and is known as one of the "three fineries of Lingnan" along with Cantonese Opera and Cantonese music.

Liu Yunshan, famous American Chinese painter and one of the planners of the exhibition, said he was deeply touched by the many fine works of the overseas Lingnan School painters and he has been thinking about organizing an exhibition for many years. Last year, Liu met with Li Yan, curator of Gao Jianfu Memorial Hall and nailed down his plan for the "Return Home" exhibition.

"Despite living overseas, many Lingnan School painters love their country and have been dedicated to spreading the Lingnan School painting art," Liu said. He hoped this exhibition could bridge overseas painters with Guangzhou local painters and enhance mutual exchanges.

Famous painter Gao Lijie, son of Gao Jianfu, attended the exhibition, and he expressed his hopes it would culturally enrich the lives of those who saw it.

Famous painter Ou Haonian from Taiwan, who once learned Lingnan School painting from art master Zhao Shao'ang at the age of 17, also attended the exhibition with his apprentices.

The exhibition will last until June 28.