183
VISIT TO MACAU MUSEUM OF ART. 26 OCTOBER 2003
A splendid day was enjoyed by the 28 participants on a visit to Macau on Sunday, 26 October 2003. Organised and led by the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic Council Member Jason Wordie, the purpose of the visit was to see the exhibition of George Smirnoff's watercolours, drawings and oil paintings at the Macau Museum of Art and to explore some of the places shown in the paintings. We were most fortunate to be joined for the day by Smirnoff's younger daughter, Nina Bieger, who remembers well the time her family spent in Macao in 1944 and 1945, when she was a child. Her memories, graciousness, and answers to our many questions added greatly to the pleasures of the day, making it a unique occasion. George Smirnoff was born in 1903 in Vladivostok. Educated as an engineer and architect, he worked in Harbin and Tsingtao. In 1939, he escaped to Hong Kong from the turmoil of Japanese-occupied northern China. Then, in 1944, with Hong Kong occupied by the Japanese, he and his family found refuge in Macau, where fortunately for posterity he was commissioned by Dr. Pedro José Lobo to paint a series of Macao scenes. These were the works we saw in this exhibition commemorating the centennial of Smirnoff's birth.
César Guillén-Nuñez, who curated the first exhibition of Smirnoff's works in Macau almost twenty years ago, gave a brief introduction on the paintings themselves. When we left the Museum, we were each delighted to be presented with a hardcover copy of the exhibition book as a gift from the Museum, showing all of Smirnoff's works of art on display and giving fascinating historical information on his life.
The book proved very useful when, after an excellent lunch at the Club Militar, Jason led us on a 3-hour walk through the back streets and parks of Macau to see many of the locations shown in the watercolours. It was amazing that many of the scenes had changed very little in the nearly 60 years that have passed since they were painted. And the time passed very quickly as we listened intently to Jason's explanations and Nina's recollections.
Our heartfelt thanks to both of them for such a memorable day.