Dialogue in the Mountains

LI JIAN (1747-1799)
Dialogue in the Mountains
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk
136.1 x 50.2 cm. (53 ⁵⁄₈ x 19 ³⁄₄ in.)
Entitled, inscribed and signed, with three seals of the artist

Tam Chi-Sing, Laurence (1933-2013) was a Hong Kong-based ink artist. He studied ink painting from Luis Chan (1905-1955) and Lui Shou Kwan (Lü Shoukun, 1919-1975), and was profoundly influenced by their spirit of revolutionizing Chinese Ink Paintings.

In 1971, Tam was appointed as Deputy Director of the City Museum and Art Gallery in Hong Kong (later known as the Hong Kong Museum of Art), and was promoted to the first Director of the Hong Kong Museum of Art afterwards in 1988. He participated in the role for over twenty years, contributed to the development of the Museum of Tea Ware and Hong Kong Museum of Art. Tam had a diverse collection, with a wide range of categories encompassing paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and bamboo carvings. His publications include The Cradle of New Chinese Ink Painting Movement (2006) and Chinese Bamboo Carving (1978-1982), etc.