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Biographical Notes of Chao Shao-an

The late Guangxu period The painter Ju Lian (eighth from the right) and his students at the Lodge of the Zither of Moon Howling. The youngest student was Gao Jianfu (fifth from the left). Chao Shao-an’s teacher Gao Qifeng learned from Gao Jianfu and indirectly from Ju Lian.
1931 Gao Qifeng and his pupils at the exhibition of their works in Guangzhou on 12 June 1931. From the left: Zhou Yifeng, He Qiyuan, Chao Shao-an, Zhang Kunyi, Gao Qifeng, Ye Shaobing, Huang Shaoqiang. These pupils were known as the Disciples of Tianfeng Studio.
1944 Chao Shao-an held his mother in fond memory. She passed away in 1944. He named his studio Meng Xuan Tang to commemorate her.
1950s Photo of Chao Shao-an (back row fifth from the left) and his students in the 1950s. Chao Shao-an organised frequent trips of outdoor sketching with his students. One destination was Fanling.
1950 Chao Shao-an held a solo exhibition at Cecil Hotel in Central District, Hong Kong on 24 September 1950.
1952 Photo of Chao Shao-an and Malcolm MacDonald in Singapore in 1952. Malcolm MacDonald was the Governor General of Malaya and Singapore, and the Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1955.
1954 In 1954, Chao Shao-an exhibited in Lucerne, visited Geneva, then exhibited in Paris and Rome. Photo shows Chao Shao-an in Venice, Italy in 1954.
1955 Joint exhibition of five artists in memory of their teacher Gao Qifeng at St. John’s Cathedral in Hong Kong in July 1955. From the left: Zhou Yifeng, Ye Shaobing, He Qiyuan, Rong Shushi, Chao Shao-an.
1957 Joint exhibition with members of the Hong Kong Art Association of Seven Artists in the St. John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong, March 1957. From the left: Li Xipeng, Huang Banruo, Ding Yanyong, Chao Shao-an, Yang Shanshen, Lu Shoukun.
1960 Chao Shao-an giving a painting demonstration at the exhibition in the M.H. De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco of America in 1960.
1962 Chao Shao-an held a solo exhibition at the newly opened Hong Kong City Hall, 19-24 March 1962.
1979 Solo exhibition presented by the Urban Council, Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1979. Chao Shao-an speaking with Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales, Chairman of the Urban Council, on the Eighth Floor of the City Hall.
1980 Chao Shao-an was made an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1980.
1994 Chao Shao-an was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Hong Kong in 1994.

Photographs are reproduced with the permission of Chao Shao-an’s family.

Photos


  • Ju Lian and his students at Lodge of the Zither...

  • Gao Qifeng and his pupils at the exhibition in ...

  • Chao Shao-an's mother

  • Chao Shao-an and his students at Fanling