As the title “When Schiele Meets Peking Opera Figure: Global Modern and Contemporary Masters Exhibition” suggests, the curated exhibition presented by 3812 Gallery during Hong Kong Art Month 2025 brings the hybridity of multicultural influences and cross-era artistic inspirations to the forefront. Featuring iconic works by a stellar lineup of 20th century modern masters from China and beyond, the exhibition is anything but anachronistic, maintaining a striking relevance to contemporary life through the porousness of its artworks to diverse artistic vocabularies, techniques, and mediums that transcend cultures and epochs.
From the Forest by Lin Fengmian, which exudes a vivacious rhythm crafted from natural elements that faithfully reflect both reality and the artist’s inner world, to Still Life (1960s) by Guan Liang, where the motionless fish seems poised to thrash out of the canvas, captured in raw, forceful brushstrokes and colours reminiscent of Fauvism; from the dazzling lyricism born from the fusion of Chinese calligraphy and Western abstract modernism in Zao Wou-Ki’s lithographs, and the explosive, emotionally charged acrylics on canvas by French abstraction pioneer Georges Mathieu – they all, speak volumes about the permeability of East and West, modernity and contemporaneity, legibility and abstraction.
With the vision of exploring the continuity and evolution of aesthetic inquiries among 20th-century modern art virtuosos, the exhibition brings together Austrian Expressionist master Egon Schiele alongside renowned artists such as Chu Teh-chun, Cheong Soo Pieng, Georges Mathieu, Guan Liang, Hans Hartung, Hsiao Chin, Le Pho, Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Lim Tze Peng, Lin Fengmian, Richard Lin, Sanyu, and Zao Wou-ki, among others. Despite their distinct artistic languages, these figures share a common thread that transcends cultural and temporal divides – a timeless quality that perpetuates the legacy of modern art while resonating with the complexities and sentiments of contemporary life, culminating in a resonance brimming with vitality and timelessness.
As 3812 Gallery offers bespoke advisory services and secondary market dealing for collectors, the remarkable consignments from esteemed collectors celebrate the diverse artistic dialogues that shaped 20th-century art, revealing the enduring legacy of these iconic works.
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