XN000022-1985-05-26 — Page 4

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 1985

3

HISTORIC PAINTINGS OFFER NOSTALGIC JOURNEY

*****

LOCAL RESIDENTS CAN NOW TAKE A NOSTALGIC JOURNEY INTO THE 19TH CENTURY THROUGH REPRODUCTIONS OF PAINTINGS DEPICTING HONG KONG, MACAU AND GUANGZHOU WHICH HAVE JUST BEEN RE-PUBLISHED BY THE URBAN COUNCIL.

+THESE REPRODUCTIONS ARE VERY EDUCATIONAL BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE VALUABLE VISUAL RECORDS OF HONG KONG'S HISTORY, AND MANY OF THEM COMPLEMENT THE WRITTEN RECORDS THAT HAVE SURVIVED, + SAID THE ASSISTANT CURATOR OF THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF ART, MR JOSEPH TING.

MR TING SAID THE URBAN COUNCIL HAD RECENTLY DECIDED TO REPRINT A TOTAL OF 2 000 REPRODUCTIONS OF EACH OF THE 26 PICTURES IN VIEW OF POPULAR PUBLIC DEMAND. THE FIRST PRINTINGS OF THE REPRODUCTIONS HAD BEEN SOLD OUT SOON AFTER THEY WERE PUT ON SALE SEVERAL YEARS AGO.

+ THE PAINTINGS, WHICH WERE SELECTED FROM THE COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL PICTURES IN THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF ART, SHOW THE CHANGES MADE TO HONG KONG AFTER THE BRITISH ARRIVED IN 1841. THEY ARE THE ONLY MEANS AVAILABLE FOR CAPTURING THE SIGHTS AND SCENES OF HONG KONG AND ITS PEOPLE IN THE EARLY AND MID-19TH CENTURY WHEN THE CAMERA WAS NOT YET INTRODUCED TO THE FAR EAST.

+AMONG THE COLLECTION ARE THREE DRAWINGS DEPICTING HONG KONG IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY BY A YOUNG FRENCH ARTIST, AUGUSTE BORGET, WHO ARRIVED IN HONG KONG ON BOARD THE SHIP 'PSYCHE' IN 1838. HIS DRAWINGS DEPICT LOCAL RURAL LIFE AND VILLAGE SCENES DURING HIS ONE-YEAR SOJOURN IN HONG KONG, GUANGZHOU AND MACAU, SAID MR TING.

THE THREE REPRODUCED PICTURES WERE SELECTED FROM THE 32 SCENES USED TO ILLUSTRATE THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH EDITIONS OF BORGET'S BOOK, +SKETCHES OF CHINA AND THE CHINESE+, WHICH WAS ALSO REGARDED AS A VALUABLE RECORD OF HONG KONG.

+THE HONG KONG DEPICTED BY BORGET IS IN SHARP CONTRAST TO THE HONG KONG DEPICTED BY MURDOCH BRUCE, WHO WAS AN ARCHITECT. AN INSPECTOR OF BUILDINGS AND AN OVERSEER OF ROADS FOR THE HONG KONG ADMINISTRATION IN THE 1840S,+ SAID MR TING.

+A COMPARISON OF BRUCE'S AND BORGET'S LITHOGRAPHS GIVES US SOME IDEA OF HOW MUCH HONG KONG CHANGED WITHIN THE SPAN OF A DECADE.

+BRUCE IS