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The Macao Museum of Art (MAM) presents the exhibition Commercial Beauty: Calendar Illustrations by Guan Huinong. This exhibition offers the public a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the artist's unique creations and the once wildly popular art form of calendar posters. Through these works that combine artistry, graphic design, printing skills, and commercial value, viewers can appreciate the aesthetic significance of an art that appealed to both refined and popular tastes.
Guan Huinong (1878–1956) was born in Nanhai, Guangdong province. His great-grandfather, Guan Zuolin (known as 'Lamqua'), was a famous 19th-century export painter in Canton and a student of the English painter George Chinnery (1774–1852), who resided in Macao. Guan Huinong moved to Hong Kong around 1905, where he engaged in painting commercial posters, designing trademarks, and the printing business, beginning his career in creating calendar illustrations. His works masterfully combined the Chinese xie yi (freehand) style with a Western 'realistic' approach, pioneering a new path for calendar art. His iconic Two Girls poster for the cosmetics brand Kwong Sang Hong Ltd. became immensely popular, cementing his status as the 'King of Calendar Poster'.
Popular in the early 20th century, calendar posters were a highly valued medium for advertising. They typically featured fashionably dressed young ladies, but also included themes from history, drama, and mythology. Products, company logos, and the annual calendar were arranged at the bottom or sides of the image. Stylistically, they blended traditional Chinese painting, Western sketching, watercolour techniques, and lithography to create a distinctive artistic style. This fusion of art and commerce was met with enthusiastic public response. Thanks to lithography, which allowed for mass reproduction, these posters rapidly gained popularity across China and overseas. Many famous calligraphers and painters of the early 20th century, such as Gao Jianfu, Ge Xianglan, and Xie Zhiguang, also contributed to this trend.
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