Some 40 works from Chater Collection are on show which started
on Friday at the Hong Kong Museum of Art to commemorate the
museum's 45th anniversary.
The exhibition, "The Chater Legacy -- A Selection of the Chater
Collection", featuring oil paintings, watercolors, sketches, prints
and photographs, shows the landscape of the South China trading
ports in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as British activities
in China.
According to Assistant Curator of the museum Maria Mok, the
Chater Collection, having sailed through long years of turmoil, has
been reduced from more than 400 to a mere 94 pieces. These
invaluable works were handed to the City Hall Museum and Art
Gallery (predecessor of the Hong Kong Museum of Art) in 1962 and
became one of the three major private collections when the museum
was opened.
Shortly before Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese in 1941,
the Governor Sir Mark Aitchison Young ordered valuable works of
Chater collection be hidden in the wine cellar and strong room in
the basement of Government House. However the basement was
considerably altered during the Japanese Occupation, the paintings
were most probably discovered and removed by the Japanese
troops.
Sir Paul Chater (1846-1926) was an Indian-born Armenian who came
to Hong Kong in 1864. He became a successful merchant and was
appointed ex officio members of the Legislative Council and the
Executive Council.
Chater amassed a considerable fortune as well as an important
collection of paintings and ceramics. Quite a few places in Hong
Kong are named after him. His private collection was donated to the
Hong Kong Government under his last wish.
The exhibition will be held until Jan. 8, 2008.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2007)
