Wu Guanzhong was an important modern Chinese painter, who merged elements of the East and West in his art. He captured the beauty of things in simple forms with flowing lines, bouncing dots and bright colors. 

During the exhibition "Wu Guanzhong: A Retrospective" in 2002, Wu Guanzhong gave his first ever live sketching demonstration at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Sketching the Victoria Harbour in the rain, this occasion became a favourite tale of the local art circle.

From the artist's writings, we can know how he felt about that event. He recalled, "Responding to great public demand, the Museum of Art consulted me about the possibility of performing a public sketching demonstration. I do not like to paint in front of the public, nor have I ever done any demonstration because it is impossible to get into the mood when it is a show. However, they explained that painters today seldom do sketching and young artists do not know where to start. As I have been sketching all my life, they hope people would not miss this only opportunity and asked me to encourage the younger generation. Unable to refuse the host's kind intention and the public's enthusiasm, I agreed to provide a "service" of demonstrating sketching for once. Since it's a service, the outcome does not matter. They were prepared to record the whole sketching process, from my first stroke on paper to the last, which would be put into the archive. I picked Victoria Harbour as the subject, which I would sketch on the podium of the Museum… On the day of demonstration, the lobby was packed with people. Alas! There was heavy fog and visibility was down to fifty metres. All the skyscrapers around Victoria Harbour disappeared in the illusory space of mist and clouds. The fog did not clear up and the audience was getting impatient. I did not want to disappoint the crowd, so I portrayed the buildings and ferries in the harbour by memory. How I composed the buildings, my sequence of strokes as well as the control and balance of strokes might serve as a reference to some people. Yet sketching is not about copying, it's the vitality that is being sketched, a vitality that is open to interpretation.


Standards for Finding more clues at the Wu Guanzhong Art Gallery on 4/F