Situated at the foot of Baiyun Mountain and on the shore of Luhu lake, Guangzhou Art Museum
was located on the Yuehu Rode, Guangzhou. It occupies the buliding area of nealy 40,000 m2.
It is a large comprehenensive art museum constructed with the funds appropriated by the
People’s Government of Guangzhou,which started to be built in 1995 and was completed on
the whole in 2000.
Guangzhou Museum of Art is a large-scale comprehensive art museum in South China and a
cultural and artistic palace of ancient and modern treasures. The exhibitions of Guangzhou
Museum of Art are mainly based on the calligraphies and paintings of successive dynasties in
China,featured by collections in Lingnan area and also covers other types of art work.
Guangzhou Art Museum own more than 24,000 collections, many are gazetted as national
heritage. The most precious collections of museum are Muozhutu painted by Wen Tong in Song
dynasty (one of the three perious pieces left in the world: the other two are now in Beijing
and Taiwan respectively), Shanggaoshuichang painted by Dai Jing (22 meters) in Ming dynasty
and Yuzhutu painted by Li Heng in Yuan dynasty. Among them, Muozhutu is most cherished..
Famous construction designer, Mo Bozhi, academician member of the Chinese Academy of
Engendering, hosted the construction design of the museum. The design draws on the Lingnan
traditional construction style. White is the dominant color of the structure, which looks
dignified, elegant and magnificent with its colonnade of red sandrocks. Buildings and
statues live harmoniously with surrounding environment which forms the architectural complex
in graceful disorder and with delicate decoration..
The overall environment of Guangzhou Museum of Art features a rich artistic atmosphere: on
the square in front of the main gate stands the sculpture Impressions of Century (by Tang
Daxi) expressing the glory of human culture. On the left of the museum, there is a tower.
The detailed part of the tower contains the connotation to the Chinese words “羊”(sheep)
and “丰”(harvest) which refer to the alias of Guangzhou, namely, Yangcheng or Suicheng.
The red sandrock wall on the south of the main gate is graved with picture of prehistorical
period which shows the long history of Lingnan culture. The main entrance of the museum is
decorated by spectacular red sandrock corridor with tall beams and three couples of elegant
and magnificent carved gate out of solid wood, which express an artistic beauty of the
museum. “Twelve flower fairies” statues with classic garden style by sculptor Liang
Mingcheng stand in the inner court of the museum, which are graceful and different from each
other. The construction of the museum uses traditional Chinese courtyard design. The towers
in different shapes perform as the transition parts which make the architectural complex in
picturesque order. The detailed part of the construction, like the fire-sealing gable, the
Han and Tang dynasty styled eave rafter, and stone carved dragon decoration with Lingnan
local characteristics, demonstrates the culture and style of the Lingnan area..
Masters of painting and calligraphy such as Gao Jianfu, Chen Shuren, Zhao Shaoang, Li
Xiongcai, Guan Shanyue, Yang Shanshen, Lai Shaoqi, Liao Bingxiong, Yang Zhiguang, leading
collectors such as Ou chu, Zhao Tailai, musician Ma Sicong, have the celebrity galleries
named after them in the Guangzhou Museum of Art. Besides its affluent collections, the
museum also holds large-scale special exhibitions for promoting international cultural