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Lot Essay
Lui Shou Kwan emerged as a leader in the New Ink Art Movement in Hong Kong that began in the 1960s. For the three decades from his arrival in the city in 1948 until his death, Lui was a prolific painter, art writer, and art educator. Many remembered him fondly as a charismatic teacher whose influence on his students had a lifelong impact on their creative journey. Many of his students, including Wucius Wong, Irene Chou, Leung Kui Ting, Kan Tai Keung, Chui Tze Hung and Lawrence Tam, were to become the most influential artists, designers, curators, and art educators in Hong Kong in the second half of the 20th century. The city’s international link enabled Lui to exhibit his works widely in the United Kingdom and other countries as early as 1962, representing a new face of ink art to an international audience.
In parallel with Lui Shou Kwan’s artistic pursuit, several developments in Hong Kong accelerated the accessibility of art and art education around the same time. The City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, founded in 1962, became the first official venue in Hong Kong for a fine art exhibition. The Department of Extramural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where Lui taught many of his students, was established in 1965. Through his classes there, he inspired many budding artists who continued to promote his teaching to future generations. In the late 1960s, Lui and his students set up the In Tao Art Association and One Art Group to gather like-minded artists to exchange ideas and host exhibitions.
Executed in 1970, Zen was created in the last decade of the artist’s life, when his abstract style was continuing to evolve. Zen is an exemplary example of Lui’s wet style, where he sprinkled water drops and diluted ink and colour on the surface of the painting in an unrestrained manner. Lui’s abstract Zen paintings always represent a universal theme – the lotus, which symbolises eternity, purity and Buddhahood. His wet style painting is complex, transparent and fervently energetic; it expresses the artist’s emotion at its most complex. With diluted ink applied in various types of brushstrokes, the red lotus petals and their reflection scattered in the horizon and unite the lotus, its leaves, and the lotus pond into one expression, which welcomes viewers to meditate upon Lui’s lifelong pursuit of Zen.
In parallel with Lui Shou Kwan’s artistic pursuit, several developments in Hong Kong accelerated the accessibility of art and art education around the same time. The City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, founded in 1962, became the first official venue in Hong Kong for a fine art exhibition. The Department of Extramural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where Lui taught many of his students, was established in 1965. Through his classes there, he inspired many budding artists who continued to promote his teaching to future generations. In the late 1960s, Lui and his students set up the In Tao Art Association and One Art Group to gather like-minded artists to exchange ideas and host exhibitions.
Executed in 1970, Zen was created in the last decade of the artist’s life, when his abstract style was continuing to evolve. Zen is an exemplary example of Lui’s wet style, where he sprinkled water drops and diluted ink and colour on the surface of the painting in an unrestrained manner. Lui’s abstract Zen paintings always represent a universal theme – the lotus, which symbolises eternity, purity and Buddhahood. His wet style painting is complex, transparent and fervently energetic; it expresses the artist’s emotion at its most complex. With diluted ink applied in various types of brushstrokes, the red lotus petals and their reflection scattered in the horizon and unite the lotus, its leaves, and the lotus pond into one expression, which welcomes viewers to meditate upon Lui’s lifelong pursuit of Zen.