Guan Shanyue 關山月, one of the leading figures in the Lingnan School of Painting, initiated his artistic journey during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). The War not only devasted his life when Gaungzhou was occupied by Japanese troops in 1938, it also let him committed to modernise Chinese painting to reflect suffering in wartime. Guan experienced war firsthand, and the suffering of refugees touched him deeply. Guan finally reached Macau to join his teacher Gao Jianfu 高劍父. Besides learning painting from Gao, Guan spent most of his time sketching old fish boats, fishermen, children, labourers etc. He debuted his exhibition in Macau in 1938, with paintings exposing the brutality of Japanese troops and the grievances of the people. Dedicated to contribute to the War of Resistance by painting, Guan set off to Southwest and Northwest China, drawing many landscape sketches from scenic sites, held exhibitions, and funded his journey from income from selling his works. Other than learning from nature, Guan also absorbed a lot of traditional painting elements from his visit to Mogao caves in Dunhuang. His wartime artistic journey was concluded in his exhibition in August 1945 to showcase his paintings created in the Southwest, the Northwest, and Dunhuang. Guan’s wartime artistic adventures left a wonderful legacy for his lifetime artistic creation and effort to modernise Chinese painting with elements from nature and life.

Authors:
Bianca Yin-ki Cheung, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Bianca Yin-ki Cheung is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of History of Lingnan University. Her research interests include modern China, gender history, and history of Chinese painting.

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