Hong Kong, 12 December 2012

The Honk Kong Museum of Art, created in 1962, celebrates this year its 50th anniversary and establishes itself as one of the major cultural institutions on the island. With 14,000 pieces displayed throughout 6,000 sqm, it offers a large overview of Chinese classical and modern art, as well as Western and contemporary creations.

Its rich permanent collections are divided into five departments: Chinese antiquities, Chinese fine art, Hong Kong art, historical paintings and the Xubaizhai Collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy. The historical collection of the museum was mainly donated by Paul Chater and Robert Hutong, prominent businessmen and players of the economic development of Hong Kong in the colonial era.

Sir Catchick Paul Chater (1846-1926), a British citizen awarded a title of nobleman in 1902, was a member of the Hong Kong Executive Council for over thirty years. Throughout his career, he gathered an important collection of historical paintings and engravings depicting the seafaring and colonial stories of the island from 18th and 19th century, rare and precious accounts of daily life and urban development in Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. When he died the collection gathering 430 pieces, was scattered during the time of Japanese occupation. 94 works have been saved and are now displayed at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Among the missions of general interest claimed by the museum, the preservation of Chinese and Hong Kong cultural heritage, artistic education and promotion of local production have indeed a great part; temporary exhibitions opened to international issues, that allow to dynamise the audience, are also included in its programme. Therefore the museum – under the supervision of the Leisure and Culture Services department – in 2011-2012, has welcomed 338,000 visitors. In 2006 the Centre Pompidou had lent it 50 major works by Modern art masters – including Picasso, Matisse and Brancusi – for an exceptional exhibition that attracted over 140,000 visitors, an audience record for Hong Kong.

From 16 December 2012 to 31 March 2013 the museum will host the itinerant exhibition “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal”, comprising 370 pieces lent by the Andy Warhol Museum of Pittsburgh. It will feature, among other things, Warhol’s Time Capsules, which the artist used to fill every day with souvenirs, letters, newspapers, magazines, sale records, photographs and other ephemeral testimonies of his life. Capsule 23 will be highlighted, for it gathers Andy Warhol’s souvenirs of his visit in Hong Kong in 1982.

Nevertheless Chinese classical art is not being forgotten among international exhibitions. From 30 November 2012 through 9 January 2013 “Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts” will be a highlight of this year’s anniversary programme. The century-long history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan is illustrated by 38 historical paintings lent by Japanese institution. Through this opening policy, the Hong Kong Museum of Art allows to appreciate the specificity of this complex insular culture, a unique point of contact between the Far East and the West.