KOO MEI (GU MEI, B. 1929)
Cloudy Mountain
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
47.3 x 29.5 cm. (18 ⁵⁄₈ x 11 ⁵⁄₈ in.)
Signed, with one seal of the artist and one dated seal of dingmao year (1987)

NOTE: Born in Guangzhou in 1929, Koo Mei emigrated to Hong Kong in 1950 and started studying traditional Chinese painting under Zhao Shao’ang in the early 1960s. She later studied with Hu Nianzu in Taiwan and Lui Shou Kwan in Hong Kong. Having had a successful career as an actress and singer, she devoted herself to painting full-time in 1970 and won the Hong Kong Urban Council Fine Art Award in 1977. After relocating to Vancouver in the mid-1980s, Koo became inspired by the grandeur and beauty of the Canadian landscape in her painting.

She is known for her style in painting of clouds and mist, and subtle gradation of ink tones and colour washes. Delicate layers of ink and colour create a sense of movement reflecting the mood of mountains, suggesting a sense of infinite vastness. Throughout her career, her work has been widely exhibited internationally, including a solo exhibition at the Hong Kong University in 2009, and most recently, Pacific Crossing at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2017.