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The Art Museum at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) presents the exhibition Strokes of Wonder: Figure Painting by Ren Bonian from the National Art Museum of China from 22 March 2019 to 18 August 2019. The exhibition, which is the first blockbuster exhibition of figure paintings by Ren in Hong Kong, features 82 paintings by Ren from the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), among which a number of works will be shown and published for the first time ever. Other exhibits include an expressive sculpture of Ren specially created for the occasion by Prof. Wu Weishan, Director of NAMOC, and a rare portrait of Ren by Xu Beihong from the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum. Members of the public are welcome to visit the exhibition. Admission is free. 

The opening ceremony for the exhibition was held today (20 March). The officiating guests included Prof. Wu Weishan, Director of The National Art Museum of China and Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, CUHK; Mr. Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Lau Kong Wah, JP, Secretary for Home Affairs; Ms. Li Mei Sheung, Michelle, JP, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services; Dr. Leung Nai Pang, Norman, GBS, OBE, JP, Council Chairman of The Council of CUHK; Prof. Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK and Lee Quo Wei and Lee Yick Hoi Lun Professor of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, CUHK; Prof. Lai Chi Tim, Acting Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK; Mr. Christopher Mok, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Art Museum, CUHK and Prof. Yiu Chun Chong, Josh, Director of the Art Museum, CUHK. 

Credited as one of the most influential Chinese painters of nineteenth-century China and the pioneer of the “Shanghai school of painting”, Ren’s artistic prowess inspired numerous later painters including Wu Changshuo, Xu Beihong and Zhang Daqian. Xu Beihong once acclaimed, “If one were to choose a painter from past and present who could really pictorialise thoughts, it would have to be Ren Bonian.” Growing up surrounded by folk life in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, Ren savoured the soul of folk life and folk art and learnt portraiture from his family in childhood. After moving to Shanghai, he benefited from extensive exchanges with literati and the study of his predecessors and Western techniques. He was also an ardent sketcher and a keen observer of the dynamics of life and nature. Eventually, he formed distinctive styles appealing to both folk and literati taste. With the vivid representations of animate fictional or iconic characters in popular literature and classics, Ren’s work opens up the eyes of viewers to his subject’s spirit, temperament and virtues, in addition to his/her physical attributes. This conforms to the principle “form and spirit” in Chinese art. 

Divided into four parts according to the subject matters of Ren’s figure paintings at The National Art Museum of China – “Ancient”, “Modern”, “Refined”, and “Folk” – the exhibition demonstrates the artistic achievements of Ren and explores the underlying values and insights in his figure paintings. “Ancient” refers to historical stories, that is historical or literati anecdotes, including sketches and preliminary works;  “Modern”, portraits of his friends and relatives or depictions of life; “Refined”, a way of life, including ladies and literati leisure life; “Folk”, custom and auspicious symbols, including mythological characters, blessings, symbols, and folk life. 

The accompanying lecture series, generously supported by Xuanhuitang, will be held from March to August this year. The impressive speaker list consists of top scholars from The National Art Museum of China, The Palace Museum in Beijing and Taipei, Academia Sinica of Taiwan, the University of Edinburgh and the Department of Fine Arts, CUHK. Their most recent scholarship on Ren Bonian will be shared with the public. 

Details of the exhibitions are as follows: