Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA)

The following museum collection will be shown and explained the difference between figurative, semi-figurative and abstract paintings. 

Figurative, semi-figurative and abstract paintings

Video Viewing and appreciation

Resource Kit Overview

Your Art-making Activity: Semi-figurative Painting

Artist Introduction

Let’s explore and practice before making your semi-figurative painting. 

Exploring the overlapping effect

Based on the HKMoA collection, this series, ‘In Touch with Hong Kong Artists’, provides education materials and activity sets designed with the aim to raise the interest in artists and art and culture in Hong Kong. In this resource kit, Gaylord Chan will be introduced.

In Touch with Hong Kong Artists: Gaylord Chan

Visual Arts

The Arts

We will show you with our museum collections to explain, then we will discuss one of Chan’s artworks. 

Figurative paintings are descriptive and show the subjects’ true proportions. Viewers can identify the subjects from the painted forms.

Portrait of Dr David Wong Tai-wai_Chan Hoi-ying.png

Portrait of Dr David Wong Tai-wai

Dragon Boat Race_Li Bing.png

Dragon Boat Race

Semi-figurative paintings show rather realistic images of the subjects, but they are not very descriptive. Viewers can still identify the subjects, but the image portrayed is between realistic and surrealistic.

Bird on a willow tree_Ding Yanyong.png

Bird on a willow tree

Can you identify the subjects? What are they?

Plover cove water scheme 2_Luis Chan.png

Plover Cove Water Scheme (2)

The painted images have no realistic reference. Viewers are not able to identify the subjects.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

In Touch with Hong Kong Artists: Gaylord Chan

Figurative, semi-figurative and abstract paintings

Background Knowledge

What are figurative, semi-figurative and abstract paintings?