A Gift of Heritage: Selection From the Xubaizhai Collection of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (2 Volumes)

Unban Council, Hong Kong, 1992 Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. English and Chinese text.; Hardcover (silk cloth without dust jacket - as issued. Two volumes in slipcase.); 28 x 37 cm x 6.5 cm; 5.4 Kg; Volume I, 412 pages with colours illustrations and a few fold outs, including text by Christina Chu, and Painting and Callygraphy images; Volume II, 122 pages with the catalogue entries, each with a caption in English and Chinese.; Used with signs of wear, namely on the exterior of the slipcase, which is faded on the top and bottom of the front. The hardcover volumes have minor signs of wear. Interior as new. Both volumes include a stamp stating "Complementary" on the rear of the front cover.; "In view of Hong Kong's geographical and cultural affinity to the Guangdong province, more works of art of Guandgond origin are available here for acquisition than those of other provinces. As a result, the Museum has succeeded in building up one of the most representative collections of Guangdong painting and calligraphy, but its collection of works by artists of non-Guandong origin remains relatively weak. This is reflected in the displays in the Chinese Fine Art Gallery where only Guangdong paintings and calligraphy together with 20th - century Chinese paintings are on show, but no works earlier than 20th century by masters of non-Guangdong origin are represented. This phenomenon has changed since the receipt of the Xubaizhai Collection into the Museum. After the opening of the Xubaizhai Gallery of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy on 26 September 1992, visitors to the Museum will be able to view the gems of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the context of Chinese fine art in China as a whole. The Museum's collection of Chinese fine art majoring in works by Guangdong masters was much expanded in scope in 1989 when Mr. Low Chuck Tiew donated his collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy dating from the 5th to the 20th century to the Urban Council. Known as the Xubaizhai Collection of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, the collection was assembled by the determined efforts of Mr. Low over a period of fifty years. His aim was to build up a comprehensive coverage of Chinese painting particularly of the Ming and Qing periods. While the early periods in the development of Chinese painting and calligraphy were highlighted by pieces of Six Dynasties and Tang dynasty sutra writing and important works of Song and Yuan masters, the collection features a comprehensive coverage of works of major masters of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Masterpieces of the twentieth century by such masters as Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong and Xu Beihong are also represented in the Xubaizhai Collection. This generous gift from Mr. Low Chuck Tiew changes the status of the collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the Museum of Art. From a provincial collection of Guangdong painting and calligraphy, the collection now has risen to a standard of international distinction." excerpt from the preface by Laurence C.S. TAM, Chief curator, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 20 July 1992..