Landscape artists

I hadn't been to the Hong Kong Museum of Art for years.  In fact, I was fairly sure I hadn't been there since I had moved to Hong Kong.  I had some recollections of having visited when I was younger, back before I lived in Hong Kong and I also remembered it being very ordinary.  Things have changed dramatically for this place.  A huge refurbishment took place and it's now something worthy of its prime location overlooking the harbour.

This was my first visit and I had come to see a landscapes exhibition showing off in particular, some works from Constable and Turner which had been shipped in from the Tate in London.

The paintings were unsurprisingly beautiful.  They showed all of the talent of these great artists and I felt lucky to be able to see these works.  In the past, when I had seen some of these types of traveling exhibits, I felt like I was being given a glimpse of some of the leftovers that the European museums couldn't be bothered showing.  This had some very high quality works.  They had even brought over some of the palettes and paintboxes used by the two artists as well.

Alongside these two famous artists were also a variety of other landscapes from other artists in the collection of the Tate.  The museum was now more than big enough and modern enough to properly accommodate these displays.  I was also very impressed by the staff who were looking after the works.  Gone were the sleepy Hong Kong guards who were normally staring into the distance, with no care at all for the paintings or for the location itself.  The security guards here were still older folk, but they patrolled with vigour and were frequently reminding people to keep their distance and to respect the quiet of the rooms.  It was nice to see them care.

The very top floor had been set aside for a large work from Hockney.  It was meant to be the "finale" of this exhibition, but it was completely lost on me.  It was very "big", but that was about it.  Looking closely at the large work, I couldn't help but get the feeling that this was something akin to an ambitious high school student's final year art project.  Whatever skill and technique that was used, I clearly couldn't appreciate it.

Next to this room, was a large exhibition hall dedicated to some large installation art.  Since we were finished with the landscapes exhibition, we decided to go and look around for a bit.  Once again, I was impressed by what had been put together and the space itself.  The high ceilings and the large windows overlooking the harbour gave the space and light and airy feeling that I hadn't experienced in any gallery in other cities in the world.  This made this place a bit more special than I remembered it and maybe it was something which would provide a unique selling point for artists in the future.

The gallery was quiet.  The impact of the coronavirus was still being felt as people were staying away from the crowds.  This suited Matty and myself.  We were able to take our time and look at everything we wanted to at our own pace.  We weren't rushed and there was no feeling of needing to move on for the sake of politeness.  You take the silver linings whenever you can.