By law of diminishing curiosity, familiarity tends to breed neglect. This does no justice for Macao Museum of Art’s permanent exhibition ‘Historical Paintings of Macao in the 19th Century’, for the aesthetic, artistic, and historic significance of the works on display.
Trading Port vs Imperial Capital
During its first golden age of the 16th century, Macau, as a preeminent trading port, was the bridgehead of Western art’s entry into ancient Cathay. Western painting styles and techniques, already advanced through the Renaissance, settled here and ventured northward, all the way to the heart of the Forbidden City.
If the Age of Discovery marked the beginning of historical paintings as a genre, it was the advent of photography that brought this to an end. Historical paintings focused much on the Pearl River Delta or, more precisely, the major trading ports of the region, including Macau, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. These cities were, once upon a time, leading artistic centres; at least in the genre of Sino-European paintings, even outpacing Beijing.
Jesuit Court Art vs Macanese Historical Paintings
There are, however, fundamental differences between Sino-European paintings in the imperial capital and those in the provincial, yet thriving, Pearl River Delta.
For the former, painters were mostly erudite Jesuit missionaries such as Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), Jean Denis Attiret (1702-1768), Giuseppe Panzi (1734-c.1812), Louis Antoine de Poirot (1735-1813), and Ignaz Sichelbarth (1708-1780) – employed as court painters.
Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) seemed to be genuinely interested in the Sino-European style; in turn, he was much vaunted by Voltaire (1694-1778), who actually never set foot on Chinese soil. In view of the court setting, Jesuit paintings are rich in ancient allegory, literary symbolism, high abstraction and grand circumstances.
For the latter, painters were a lot more civilian, some of them self-taught, while others picked up the trade relatively late. Without aristocratic patronage, they had to rely on the popular market, both in the Pearl River Delta and back in Europe. Meanwhile, subject matters were markedly realistic – local landscapes, unfamiliar customs, livelihoods of the people.
George Chinnery
(1774-1852)
Hailed as the most influential Western painter in East Asia in the 19th century, the Englishman reached Macau in 1825 and spent the rest of his life here. Latitudinarian by nature, he left no lane or alley unvisited, and immortalised the reality in front of him: working class life, Chinese customs and landscapes etc.
Auguste Borget
(1808-1877)
So enchanted by Macau that he dubbed it “the City of the Holy Name of God”, the Frenchman arrived in Macau in 1839, and spent ten artistically fecund months here. A short stay it may have been, however his paintings of streets, buildings, churches and temples are historical records of Macau before the propagation of photography.
Thomas Watson
(1815-1860)
A doctor by training, the Scotsman came to Macau in 1845. Stylistically, he was influenced by George Chinnery, his mentor and close friend. Adopting a variety of methods, including watercolour, ink, oil, and pencil, his works are a precious record of Macau’s urban and rural visage.
Historical Paintings of Macao in the 19th Century
Organiser: Macao Museum of Art
Duration: from 6th March to 31st December 2013
Venue: 3/F Gallery, Macao Museum of Art
T: (853) 8791 9814
