Sea of clouds on Mount Huang

GUAN Shanyue was born in Guangdong province in 1912.His original name was Zepei and he was a celebrated guohua painter. Until the 1940s he studied under the distinguished Lingnan school painter GAO Jianfu (1879-1951), and was to become one of his most outstanding students. Guan was originally a school teacher and was strongly influenced by his father, who was also a school teacher with a great interest in Chinese painting. He had his first solo exhibition in 1939, which went on to show in places such as Macao and Hong Kong. During 1940-1945 he extensively travelled throughout China, continuously painting what he saw and experienced. In 1946 he returned to Guangzhou and became professor and chairman of the Chinese painting department of Guangzhou Art Academy. In 1947 he toured and exhibited in Southeast Asia and in 1948 he exhibited the works of his travels to Western China and Southeast Asia, in Shanghai. In 1949 he moved to Hong Kong and joined the Renjian Painting Society. After the establishment of the PRC, he returned to China, joining the Communist Party in 1956. He became professor and deputy director of numerous institutions in Guangzhou. In 1983 he became vice-chairman of the Chinese Artists Association. He was one of the most important painters of the group which was considered the second-generation Lingnan painters that remained in China.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, June 2005.