You may know that there is a long history of collecting Chinese art in Hong Kong, but can you name the three most important collections of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in the city?
The answer can be found at the Hong Kong Museum of Art’s (HKMoA) latest exhibition: “The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies”.
Low Chuck-tiew’s “Xubaizhai”, Ho Iu-kwong’s “Chih Lo Lou” and Lee Jung-sen’s “Bei Shan Tang” collectively make up the city’s “three big” ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy collections, says curator Nadia Lau Sheung-ying.
Showing until October 7, the exhibition features 93 sets of masterpieces from the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the Qing (1644-1912).
Low, a banker, donated his “Xubaizhai” collection to the museum just before he died in 1993. Ho’s family did the same with “Chih Lo Lou” in 2018, 12 years after the death of the businessman.