The “Lucidity in a Prosperous Era: Guangdong Paintings of the Qing Dynasty” exhibition opened at the Macao Museum of Art (MAM) in Nape on August 21, bringing together 136 works from four museums to showcase the development of Guangdong painting and its fusion of Chinese and Western artistic influences.
Co-organised by MAM, the Guangdong Museum (Guangzhou Lu Xun Museum*) and the Guangzhou Museum of Art, with support from the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the exhibition features works from the collections of the participating institutions.
The exhibition highlights the transformation of Guangdong painting during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), from the artistic periphery to the mainstream and from traditional approaches to innovation. The works demonstrate Guangdong artists’ diverse exploration of brushwork and subject matter, while reflecting the vast region’s natural landscape, cultural life and interactions between Chinese and Western artistic traditions.
“Vast East” is the etymology of Guangdong.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man said that the exhibition provides visual evidence for further research into the artistic and cultural heritage of the Greater Bay Area (GBA). She also highlighted the ongoing collaboration among cultural institutions in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in collection management, research and exhibitions.
Public guided tours will begin this Saturday, with Cantonese tours on Saturdays and Putonghua tours on Sundays and public holidays. Group tours are also available by prior reservation, while talks, workshops and concerts will be held throughout the exhibition period.
According to an information message at the entrance of the exhibition, Zhu Wanzhang, the exhibition curator, noted that exhibitions focusing specifically on Qing Dynasty Guangdong painting remain rare, even in regions such as Guangzhou and Hong Kong where such works are prevalent. The local collection, despite its quantity and quality, has seldom been featured in previous research and exhibitions on Guangdong art.
Rather than providing a comprehensive survey of the entire history of Guangdong painting, the exhibition adopts a museum-centred approach, using MAM’s own collection as its primary focus while drawing on loans from the Guangdong Museum (Guangzhou Lu Xun Museum), the Guangzhou Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Zhu said.
According to Zhu, the close collaboration among museums in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau enables the exhibition to trace the main developmental trajectory of Lingnan painting** while highlighting its distinctive regional characteristics. Rooted in Chinese painting traditions yet shaped by the cultural environment of Lingnan, the selected works demonstrate the region’s diverse and interconnected artistic history. The exhibition also aims to encourage further exploration of regional heritage and serve as an example of cultural exchange, mutual learning and collaborative development across the GBA.
“Lucidity in a Prosperous Era: Guangdong Paintings of the Qing Dynasty” will run through November 2 at MAM. With free admission, the museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with last entry at 6:30 p.m., and is closed on Mondays.
*Lu Xun (鲁迅; 1881–1936), born Zhou Shuren, is widely considered the “pioneer of modern Chinese literature” and one of the most influential Chinese writers of the 20th century. He was a leading intellectual figure in the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement. – DeepSeek
**Lingnan painting refers to a major 20th-century Chinese art movement that blended traditional Chinese brushwork with Western and Japanese artistic techniques. The term “Lingnan” literally means “south of the Nanling Mountains,” referring to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions of southern China. – Gemini
Photos taken at the MAM gallery on August 21 by Khalel Vallo
