SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1987
CHINESE
PAINTING
THE production of objects
destined for the purpose of artistic embellishment is common to every age and to every people. Some nations like the French, the Italians and the Japanese have made
By
T. PAUL GREGORY
more progress in this sphere brated for the glories of its of endeavour than others. ceramics and painting. Indeed, But of all the peoples of the to the Sung artists pictorial re- globe, the Chinese on ac- presentation was a passion, and count of their amazing some of their work has been classed as amongst the greatest versatility have earned the which the world has ever seen. unique distinction of being consummate masters in
* * * every field of art. Even
galaxy of their first tiresome and AMONGST the
matchless painters who groping efforts executed graced the period of the Sung during the period of the was Wan Naam-t'in. In the Han dynasty (206 B. C. consensus of critical opinion, he A.. D. 220) reveal in their created "transcripts of scenery that for breadth, atmosphere primitive form and colour-d
picturesque beauty CAD ing the elements of a re- scarcely be surpassed, and the markable culture, As all points in which he differs from lovers of art know, the modern European artists are
the characteristics of aesthetic counterpoised by appreciation amongst the essential elements of artistic excellence." So highly esteem- Chinese manifest themselves ed is his work that Chinese in the employment of artists for the
more
past seven
magnificent combinations of centuries have taken him exquisite colours and won- as the model par excellence and drous skill of composition. marvellous style. To this day have endeavoured to emulate his These factors are perhaps the majority of Chinese land- best exhibited in their scapes in water-colour efforts of pictorial delinea- frankly based on the work of tion; for as illustrators, the this great master.
Chinese are peerless, and
☆
are
have rendered the world their eternal debtors
on THE artists of the Ming account of the decorative Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) ex- features of their art which celled in portraiture, and we have outstanding examples of
and
C****
AD 1 KO A
丁ㄥ買兩萬州美好
in
HONGKONG
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who resided at Canton
may be truly said surpasses their polished technique. The de- that of the West by its lineation of the female face and degree of unprecedented figure was their especial forte, splendour.
and those pictures which have survived the The entire world is under last-
ravages of time are justly esteemed ing obligation to the Chinese for their fragile* delicacy
of belletristic accomplishments has been more or less, relegated people; for We HTC indebted of outline and judicious by the great Emperors K'ang- to the works produced in the to the Sons of Han for many of refinement of colouring. Paint- hsi, Yung-cheng and Chien-lung ateliers of lesser-known artists. the amenities of our daily lives. ing during the time of the Ming themselves virtuosi of ability The introduction of the methods period beenme elevated to the was so great that it has been of oil painting is attributed to The porcelain service, for in- level of a polite accomplishment said that almost the whole of the early Jesuit missionaries, stance, from which we partake of the gentry, and Chinese al the literati were more or less although certain of the pupils of the Irish our meals owes its inception to bums record the names of many imbued with a desire to dabble George Chinnery,
accomplished men and women in the art of painting. Much of artist the inventive genius of some whose work was acclaimed by the work of the latter reveals during the early thirties of the
skill of forgotten Celestial artisan; the the dilettanti of that day.
a high order, and last century, were instrumental During the time of the Sung to this day, there may be in popularising working in oils paper upon which we write
Chinese
the Ming.
collections to a limited extent. Only one of artists found or draw is, too, the pro- paid much attention bo the of Chinese connoisseurs many Chinnery's pupils attained any duct of the scientific research of representation of birds and examples of painting which eminence and this was the one some savant of old Cathay; and animals. The paintings them evoke-the-admiration-and-praise-whom-foreigners called Lam Instly, but not least, the ink selves whilst lacking in the per- of the beholder. Some of these qua". This artist maintained a which is employed in depicting Spective, which we of the West Tsing period paintings are un- studio on the island of Honam the river from Canton {n associate with signed and others bear merely across upon the white sheet those pictures of this kind, are never the seal of the artist dis- sometime during the years 1840-
title symbols which represent human theless so infused with vivid tinguished by the
of 17, and was reputed by Europe- thought is a discovery dating realism that it is doubtful if any. Kui-sz, or "retired scholar"-a an visitors to have attained
other people have been more modest appellation signifying high degree of excellence in his from China's long past, Thus successful in imparting such that the hand which painted the portraits in oil. Indeed, those when we stop to discuss the vitality to the pictured object. picture did not seek to win the which the writer have seen reveal vast sphere of Chinese art, we There is, however, no such cla- acclaim of the world.
the are immediately confronted by boration of detail as in
work of Western artists, as for The greatest exponent of the the formidableness of the instance, that of Edwin Land- talent and ingenuity of the that if it were not for the fact of ject. A sense of humility, awe ster and Rosa Bonheur; for the Tsing school of Chinese paint the artist's seal being attached Chinese master of the brush ing is represented by the mas- to them, they would readily be and reverence comes over us
Can- mistaken for those of his mas- deemed the depicting of mere ter, Kui Kwoo-ts'uen, a when we contemplate the glori-
of less conse- tonese artist who flourished ter. ous succession of great artists quence than the expression during the early years of the during all the epochs of China's of the actual soul or spirit be- last century,
found the sublime concept of MODERN Chinese artists have vicissitudinous and kaleidosco-hind the idea of the artist,
sub
pic history. The great eras of Chinese art and culture are of
detail
wont
In his work are
#
a superiority in technique, some
of them, too, so closely resem-
bling the work of Chinnery
* *
subject, the exquisite mastery 'ceaselssly striven to enter the of colouring the consummate seventh heaven of the ultimate skill and the ecstatic poetic in pictographic delineation as course those of the Tang and THE Tsing or Manchu dynasty, sense of typical Chinese genius, portrayed by the great masters Sung dynasties. The former whilst politically a tragic It may be mentioned here that of the past. Some of them have
618-906) (A. D.
have never taken been peculiarly successful, and W89 re- epoch, was in the sphere of art the Chinese
truly nowned for the excellence of its
Kreat period in much interest in the style of it may be said that many of literature:
whilst the latter Chinese history; for the encour Western art. Painting in oila their works in water-colour are not unknown in China, comparable with the master- (A. D. 960-1279)
cele-agement given to the cultivation whilst Was
picces of the great painters of previous epochs. One of those whose pictures are able to im- press posterity with their excel- lence is Ko K'ei-fung. This gentleman at the time of his passing in 1935 at the compara- tively early age of fifty years had achieved by the excellence of his work an enviable reputa- tion which extended throughout The Far East.
Permanent Waves
We use the finest Cluster Curl oll
of Lavender, non-ammonia solution
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Week-End Problems
PROBLEM I.
The
TWO BLOCKS
respective sides
(or
edges) of the two blocks must slund to one another in there
Current Affairs
(1)
(2)
5
(10)
(18)
(3)
3 (12)
2 (10)
4
(4)
2 (12)
5
(20)
1
ratios:
(5)
(0)
*
(14)
1
(21)
2
(7)
6
(15)
3 (22)
1
(0)
11 (18)
5 (23) 3
+1 (13)
Hell Knows No Fury Robinson had been trapped" by Irene Colller. (Was the plot her own or Playfair's?- that Was never officially known.) At any rate, there
had not, in fact, been any fire- drill, Robinson thus nvolved himself, as soon as he began to explain his movements, In a nexus of palpable lies.
Block A: 4...5...
B: 3
12 10 Hence the longest edge of block A is one-fifth longer than the longest culpe of block U.
*
PROBLEM II.
NEWT EMIR
WINE TREE
He was condemned to death, but, in consideration of his youth and lack of mental bntanee, the sentence was com- muted to one of penal ACT- vitudo,
Some of his pupils have, like their master, obtained the com- mendation of Chinese virtuosi for the studied excellence and high standard of their produc- Lions. Amongst the most talented of these who have enjoyed the privilege of study under the guidance of such famous master are that talented trio of Hongkong artists- Isiung Pi-shang. Yao-shang and Pel-shang. These young whom ladies-the eldest of
A
10 but 24 years of age —have studied Chinese painting for more than ten years and.
Two brillant studies by the Hitung sisters, Hongkong'à tat- anted "Chineso artista,
have already won wide acclaim for their mastery of a difficult art. In their paintings, they portray a spirit of vitality that is refreshing, and the scope of their subjects recalls the glamour of the effulgent past. It is such artists, who whilst grateful for the cultural heritage of their country's age-old history
are yet discerning enough to rea- lise that the most priceless gifi that China can bestow upon the i appreciative nations of the West is the aesthetic conception of an
art which is truly divine.
T
"
THE MORTAL STORM
By Phylls Botiome
Faber and Faber, 78. Gd.)
HIS novel is written to a thesis and ruined in the re- sult. A pity, because I have never shared the view that "art" and 'propaganda" cannot mix. Doubly 2 pily, beenuse Miss Bottome's thesis, being anti-Fas- cist, is one which I strongly ap- prove.
But it is all cul too neatly to pattern. the German girl who loves à Com. munist and has Nazi brothers and a Jewish father; the shooting of the Communist. by the girl's aristocratic lover while he is attempting to escape to Austria: the murder of the father, a world-famous scientist, in a concen- tration camp.
Heaven-and Hiller-knows auch things have happened. But the Ger- man neroine remains obstinately English And the argument academie. A noble attempt, but it's all too ladylike, toa netional,
R. P.
SNAPSHOT CUILD
TRAVEL INTO FAIRYLAND
Have a fourt-to-heart talk with yourse!!! Double exposure, accurately planned, will for you.
D
O you remembor the wondor inica | finder. Arrange the fight so the feet you read when a child, the for-aro not too brightly illuminated. bidding costios filled with ogres, tho This will help eliminate evidence of lingo jinn of the Arabian Nights, light orrore in the position-of the the trolls that lived undor bridges subject. Suap the shutter a macond and the fairies that haunted myste-time and the final picture is made. When the picture is developed. Plous woodlands?
prestol thero aro tko IRtle man and You can use your camera to re-the big one, facing each other on the create those childhood memories,
same film. You can mako ginnts walk through
You will probably make mistakes your plelures. You can hold yourself, in placement on your first trios, be or a tiny vorafon of yourself, in the cause the view Ander fe small, but hollow of your own hand. You can this is part of the fan of trying posa in Intinenta conversation with trick photography — and some of the Irish "weo poople," the elves and your errora may give a funnier pic. fairies and tho' cobbling leprechaun. turo than the one you carefully It's not hard. The method in to planned. It is well to remember that thue our old friend, the doubla ex-only the figures in thɑso shots ca'n posure—two shots on the same filu, bolghted-It surrounding objecte All that is necessary is accurate pos- show up, they will apoll the picture. Ing and careful control of the light.) If your camera has an "open" di-
A black background is necessary orj rect view finder, without glass, it is you can pose your subject boforo best not to try this sort of work. It, the dour of a dark roon).
however, you have a camera with Note the plcture abors. Although ground glass back, you can place It was made with › camera having a figures wih greater accuracy. ground glass for focusing, which With this teclinique, you can make simplifies making such pletures, youļa falry dance on the table in front can get the same effect with your of you the fairy being your emali own small camera. First, pono the daughter in her ballet dress. If you subject fairly close to the camera, want to make the little figures trans- with his emply hand extended. Snup | parent, shorten exposure a little. the picture and mark the position You can, if you like, do costumo of the hand on the glass view Ander, work, illustrating the fairy tales you very carefully, with a tiny dot of enjoyed as a child. Try Jack and the Beanstalk, with an Intrepid amall Now, without wluding the film, boy cluding the grasp of a force move the camera back several feet, ogra. Or get an old hiking brogan no the ambjent appears small in the and a copy of Mother Goose and view findor. Let him stand, facing pleture the Old Lady Who Lived In A his former position, so that his feet Shot, appear right on the ink dot in tho
Ink,
John van Guilder
DOES WAKING TIRED EVERY MORNING
ruin a Woman's
'YES',' says
well known doctor
That drawn, tired look, that dullness in your eyes, those tiredness lines will leave you when you get
rid of Night Starvation
WAKING TIRED every morning
WA
is very often a sign of Night Starvation. It shows in your face in a
looks?
hide the
dozen different ways. Even the colour No beauty treatment can of your skin changes. Shadows come in unattractive results of Night Starvation. all the wrong places, making you look You have to get rid of the cause. Do you drawn and old. Night Starvation shows know that you burn up energy even. in your body, too. Shoulders droop while you sleep? Breathing alone takes your whole figure sagt. Your step 20,000 muscular efforts during the lacks youthfulness and vitality.
night. Unless energy is replaced during sleep,
Woman who always wake fired never have charm like this.
'HORLICKS GUARDS
NIGHTS
LIFELESS HAIR man
DULL EYES
DRAWN FACE ama
DROOMING SHOULDEAS
TIRED WALK
Where'
Hight Starvation symptoms first show
H2
of coprse you wake feeling and LOOKING fired-Night Starved, in fact,
What to do about it
Doctors say there is nothing so good as Horlicks to correct this condition. Start taking Horlicks, a hot cupful every night. You will wake feeling refreshed sparkling cys, fresh healthy skin. No drawn look. No shadows. Your face, your whole appearance, will have that vivacity and charm other women' envy,
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