Few people appreciate the beauty of the abstract as much as the Chinese, says modern Chinese ink painter Liu Guosong.

Over the past 50 years, the Taiwanese artist has made breakthroughs in Chinese ink painting. Fusing Chinese and Western artistic styles, he deviated from conventional, realistic Chinese ink painting, inventing a new version of abstraction.

Appealing world: Liu Guosong's works appeal to both refined and popular tastes. Hukou: Yellow River Series, No 5 (1991), A Man of East, West, South and North, No 18 (1972), and Ripples: Jiuzhaigou Series, No 13 (2001) are among his masterpieces.

Liu's cosmic landscape series, displays of power and grandeur, are world-renowned. 

The 1969 moon landing of US astronauts who brought back images of the earth and the moon inspired the series. He created 300 paintings of the universe in four years.

The subject matter and his artistic style was not seen in Chinese ink painting before, said Hong Kong Museum of Art Curator Tang Hoi Chiu.

Open to artistic inspirations

"A Man of East, West, South and North, No 18 1972 is a typical work of the series. On this work,  Liu blew up details of his personal seal to create a dominant collage image that resembles the Sun. The Chinese inscription, which literally means 'A Man of East, West, South and North' just reflects that the artist is open to artistic inspirations from all parts of the world," said Mr Tang.

Liu also used for the first time a spray gun to spray water-based colours on the surface of his spacescapes to produce the effects of gradation or fading.

The series is easy to understand and colourful, and displays distinctive composition. Liu was acclaimed as a sensitive artist when his works were exhibited in New York.  　　

Liu was most active in the '70s and '80s when he produced the paintings of the universe and some of his abstract landscapes.

Appeals to all tastes

Liu's works appeal to both refined and popular tastes, because of their exceptional coherence, light perspective, brushwork and dimensionality. They also show a sense of void in the wilderness, Mr Tang said. 

In the '90s, Liu traveled extensively to the Mainland including visiting Guanghe, the Silk Road, Tibet's snow mountains, Xinjiang's deserts and Jiuzhaigou, producing a series of landscape paintings.

Ripples, Jiuzhaigou Series No 13 (2001) is one of those works.

"Fascinated by the beautiful colours of rivers and streams, and the charm of mountains and woods there, Liu used paper for architectural drawing and acrylic with his distinctive ink staining technique to achieve natural fusion of ink and colours that goes beyond mere manipulation of brush and ink effects," Mr Tang said.

"The distinctive visual effect and unique technical explorations reflect the master's continuous quest for artistic innovations and new creations."

Liu's works, which are now on display in the Museum of Art, are well received. Visitors hailed them for their creativity and poetic quality; and found his recent works on Mainland landscapes  particularly pleasing. A six-year-old girl wrote: "Liu Guosong's paintings are very pretty and lovely."

Since 1965, Liu has participated in many exhibitions in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Mainland as well as internationally, winning numerous international awards and honours. He has had a profound impact on the direction of Chinese painting in the second half of the 20th century.

Beauty of the abstract

From being monochromic to colourful, realistic to abstract, Chinese to cosmopolitan, Chinese ink painting has undergone many changes over the years.

Liu, who adopts both Chinese and Western techniques, is a pioneer in contemporary Chinese art.

That the Chinese appreciate the beauty of the abstract is not only reflected in various art forms in China, he said, but also deeply rooted in the lives of its people.

Chinese calligraphy is an abstract art; many movements in Chinese provincial opera, such as mounting a horse and rowing a boat, are also abstractions.

He said Chinese ancestors also used the striations in marble to decorate tabletops and chair backs to appreciate their abstract lines and textures.

Down with the Brush!

Liu's motto, "Down with the Brush!", is revolutionary. It shattered the traditional concept of the "harmony of brush and ink". It encouraged artists to discover new methods of modern expression using traditional materials but not traditional brushwork. It encouraged innovation and a new incarnation of Chinese art.

Among the techniques, collaging originated from Chinese folk art paper cutting that kids use in their artwork, while paper fibring is a variation of a similar technique in ancient China.

Most works on show for first time

The Liu Guosong - A Universe Of His Own exhibition features 65 works the artist selected. Most of them are on show for the first time in Hong Kong, and some have been loaned from private collectors.

The exhibition comprises three parts: abstract landscapes, cosmic landscapes and Mainland scenery.

The exhibition in the Museum of Art closes on May 2. A seminar entitled Art Without Boundary: Liu Guosong - A Universe of His Own will be held in the Museum's Lecture Hall. Speakers include Mr Tang, art crtics Lin Mu and Pi Daojian; and the Chinese University of Hong Kong's visiting professor in Chinese art Xue Yongnian.

Admission to the seminar, conducted in Putonghua, is free on a first-come, first-served basis.