Acclaimed by critics and art historians as one of the four giants of traditional painting, Pan Tianshou (1897 – 1971) was a leading exponent of modern Chinese art history, sharing equal fame with Huang Binhong and Qi Baishi.

By assimilating the eccentric styles of the ancient masters, introducing the seal as well as clerical scripts into painting, and also combining the components of landscape painting with flower and bird painting, Pan developed a unique style which is characterised by expressive brushwork, vigorous form, forceful composition and monumental scale. It reflects and symbolises an uprising spirit of modern China.

As an outstanding graduate of the Zhejiang Provincial First Normal College, Pan taught at a succession of art schools including the Shanghai College of Fine Arts, the Xinhua Art College, and the Hangzhou National College of Art. He was also appointed as Head of the National College of Art in Chongqing, and the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. He is not only regarded as a great traditionalist, but also an important innovator in modern Chinese art education.

Selected from the Pan Tianshou Memorial Museum in Hangzhou, the exhibition features 36 works including landscape as well as flower and bird paintings, and also calligraphy, accompanied by a number of valuable documents. Visitors can explore Pan’s artistic career from his early works including Bamboo, and also his landscape paintings based on Wu Changshuo’s style, adopted during his teaching years in Shanghai and Hangzhou in the 1920s and 1930s. In addition, the exhibition also includes his well-known finger-paintings of vultures and lotus plants, and several extra large-scale masterpieces such as Transporting Iron Ore by Sailboat, Buffalo in a Summer Pond and The Almighty Gaze.

Following the successful exhibition entitled “The Art of Pan Tianshou”, held in the renovated National Museum of China in Beijing in early 2011, the Pan Tian-shou Foundation has joined hands with the Museum to stage this exhibition in Hong Kong and share Pan’s great artistic works with local audiences. Covering the full spectrum of works by the master, this event also marks the first highlight forming part of the Museum’s 50th anniversary celebrations.