Gardening is the art

"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas."

Elizabeth Murray

Ah, the joys of summer in Hong Kong! Roasting hot one day, rainstorms, thunder and lightning the next. Repeat this all the way from June to September, and don't forget to throw in the occasional typhoon. Is it any surprise that I am currently looking for indoor pursuits!

Well today I decided to take myself off to an exhibition in The Hong Kong Museum of Modern Art. It was called 'Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West'. This exhibition contrasts gardens in the east with those in the west and considers the need people have to connect with nature.

The exhibits on display came from The Hong Kong Museum of Art, The Hong Kong Palace Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago and The Palace of Versailles. One of the reasons I wanted to see this exhibition was that there were two works by Claude Monet included in it.

Before going to the exhibition I went to K11 Museo Shopping Mall, as I thought there was an exhibition on here, too, but if there was I'm afraid I missed it. Just outside the museum there was a model of a junk with a flag saying Black and White. This was part of the Black & White Milk Tea 85th-anniversary pop-up event. Apparently Black and White is a form of evaporated milk used in milk tea here. When I wandered in, I was offered a milk tea, but I didn't take one.

Black and White evaporated milk.

Black and White evaporated milk.

I wandered along the waterfront on the Avenue of Stars, noting that there were two orange sailed junks sailing up and down.

Junk on the harbour.

Junk on the harbour.

Junk on the harbour.

There was also an event promoting Budweiser beer. It seemed to be linked to The World Cup.

Budweiser.

As usual nowadays there were lots of tourists around enjoying The Avenue of Stars.

Tourist on The Avenue of Stars.

I then arrived at The Hong Kong Museum of Modern Art, which is usually shortened to HKMOMA. This is a really good museum and most of it is free, including the special exhibition I had come to see.

HKMOMA.

HKMOMA.

'Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West' was being held on the second floor of the museum. I went straight there. This exhibition has been advertised a lot and is very popular. It was really quite busy. My friend Lai later told me she took her sister and brother-in-law here one long holiday weekend and they couldn't see anything for the crowds. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as that on my visit.

Blooming The Art of Gardens in East and West.

In the past many western style gardens were created along geometrical lines, while many Chinese gardens tried to create natural landscapes in miniature. Although the styles of these gardens differed, they had the shared purpose of creating a peaceful sanctuary filled with natural beauty where people could sit down, relax and ponder the universe.

This exhibition contained 106 artefacts, mostly paintings, but with some other objects thrown in.

Certain Chinese paintings were probably very famous, as they seemed to be constantly surrounded. The paintings that I recognised were by Claude Monet. There were two of his waterlilies paintings and a portrait of him painted by French artist, Albert André. I could never quite manage to get directly in front of 'Waterlilies 1906' due to all the people, so my photo is taken at an awkward angle.

Portrait of Claude Monet.

'Water lily pond' 1900

'Water-lilies' 1906.

There were several other paintings of western style gardens that I liked.

'The Villa Albani' by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, taken from a series of paintings called 'Views of Rome'.

'The Royal Isle Grove' anonymous, the Gardens of Versailles.

'View of the Grotta di Palazzo with Banquet' by Louis Jean Desprez.

'View of the Grove of the Domes' Jean Cotelle from the Palace of Versailles.

'The Grotto of Pan and Fame' by Italian artist Stefano della Bella around 1653.

There were even more gorgeous paintings of eastern style gardens. As I didn't photograph all the information about them, I am trying to identify them using A.I. which may or may not be correct.

Haishan Xianguan garden in Guangzhou.

Emperor Qianlong playing the Zither.

'The Palace of Nine Perfections' by Qing dynasty artist Yuan Yao.

'Yinzhen's Pleasure' depicting the private life of the Yongzheng Emperor.

There was a serious of twelve beautiful paintings depicting the leisure activities of the court ladies in each month of the year by Qing Dynasty court painter Chen Mai.

'Grooming in the Waterside Pavilion in May' Chen Mei.

'Monthly Leisure Activities of the Court Ladies', Chen Mei. I'm not sure if the ladies are appreciating paintings or calligraphy.

'Enjoying Antiquities by the Stove' Chen Mei.

'Moon Gazing from the Jade Terrace in August,' Chen Mei.

'Appreciating Chrysanthemums' for the ninth lunar month.

In keeping with the twelve months of the year idea there were twelve paintings by Robert Furber called 'Twelve Months of Flowers'.

July.

August.

October.

November.

Then there were paintings of flowers, plants, birds and insects that you might find on a garden.

Chinese painting in Gongbi (meticulous brushwork) style from the Qing Dynasty.

Chinese painting in Gongbi style from the Qing Dynasty.

'Lilies' a woodblock print created by Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai.

'Poppies' a woodblock print created by Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai.

'Cotton Roses and Sparrow' by Katsushika Hokusai.

'Chrysanthemums and Bee' by Katsushika Hokusai.

Then there were other items on display which were not paintings but which were decorated with garden scenes such as teapots, vases, tiles, plates, and an elaborate cabinet.

Teapot.

Porcelain jardinière from the Qing Dynasty.

Lacquer dish from the Ming Dynasty.

Tiles from Persia featuring a musician and dancer.

Pottery tiles from Iran.

Detail of the cabinet.

There was even a section where you could sit and relax in a pretend garden with a stream and birdsong.

Need a rest?

Ah, that's better.

I went round this exhibition twice in the hope that some of the places that had been taken over by tour groups would be free second time around.

I didn't want to go to all the exhibitions in HKMOMA, but I decided to take a look at one called 'Live'. This exhibition focuses on the works of nineteen contemporary Hong Kong artists who it described as 'actively shaping the city's contemporary art scene'. Media used in this exhibition included painting, ink art, ceramics, sculpture, video and multimedia. On a lower floor it was possible to go and watch videos on the story behind these works of art, but I didn't go there.

Live.

The exhibition began with an enormous mechanical merry-go-round called 'Pride of Labour '.

'Pride of Labour' by Joseph Chan.

There were sculptures called: 'Cloud... virtual', 'Mountains Beyond,' 'Arrow' and 'Mirage Lingering and beyond.'

'Cloud... virtual' sculpture by artist Kum Chi-keung.

'Mountains Beyond' by Ross Yau.

'Arrow' by Inkgo Lam.

'Mirage lingering and beyond.' by Angela Yuen.

There was an enormous painting called 'The Star Ferry Tale'. I didn't read the title of this at the time and thought the upside down star ferry was a spaceship. Later still I discovered that's what you are meant to think.

'The Star Ferry Tale' by Wong Chun-hei.

'The Star Ferry Tale' by Wong Chun-hei.

One painting called 'DollyLand' was a modern interpretation of an old Chinese painting called 'The Peddler'.

'Dolly Land' by Jess Leung.

'The Peddler' by Ji Sheng.

Other paintings included: 'I am painting', 'I live here' and 'Red sail in Victoria Harbour '.

'I am painting' and 'I live here' by Chu Hing-Wah.

'Red sail in Victoria Harbour' by Wong Hau-kwei.

There was lots more to see, but I find I can't take in huge amounts of art in one go, so I headed out shopping, then home.