Asia House Shows the First Exhibition of Works by George Chinnery for Over 50 Years

Written by Eric Mainwairing Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:28

London.- George Chinnery is one of the British artists most neglected in his native country. Whilst there have been substantial exhibitions of his work in Lisbon (1995), Tokyo (1996), Hong Kong (2005) and recently in Macau (2010), there has been no public exhibition in Britain since the Arts Council show in 1957, and prior to that a retrospective at the Tate in 1932. Therefore the forthcoming exhibition, "The Flamboyant Mr Chinnery (1774-1852): An English Artist in India and China", on view at Asia House in London through January 21st, 2012 is long overdue and promises to surprise and delight the visitor. Among British artists Chinnery is a most unusual case. He spent the last fifty years of his life in India and on the China coast, where he died and lies buried, and almost all his best work was done in the East.

Other 'orientalist' artists from Europe might dip a toe (sometimes more) into Asia, and return to make a living by working up and recycling their sketches, but Chinnery never came back. In Calcutta, Canton and Macau he became something of an exotic creature himself – exuberant, droll, unpredictable – a man who relished his status as the oldest of old hands on the China coast. George Chinnery was born in London in 1774, trained at the Royal Academy Schools (where Turner was a contemporary), and had early success in Ireland. In 1802 he sailed to India, where he was joined briefly – many years later – by his wife and children. Many other European artists had tried their luck in India, returning sometimes richer, sometimes poorer, but Chinnery’s career followed a different course. He spent twenty-three years in India where, despite many lucrative commissions, he became hopelessly enmeshed in debt. Unable to return home, he sailed to the China coast to evade his creditors. Against all the odds, he lived on for another twenty-seven years within the expatriate community at Macau, Canton and, for a short while, Hong Kong. Productive to the end, he was sought out by travellers who wanted to imitate his drawings and to meet the eccentric genius of the China coast.


At his best he was a splendid artist. For a living he painted portraits of swaggering lieutenants, hoary governors and their beribboned wives, American sea-captains, and Chinese and Parsi merchants. George Chinnery immersed himself in these Asian cultures and his drawings and watercolours of local people and their daily activities are regarded by many as his most compelling work: crowded market scenes, fishermen landing on the beach, blacksmiths working at their bellows, gamblers playing in the street, boat-people making makeshift shelters, junks at anchor on a calm evening. The exhibition comprises some 100 works showing Chinnery’s range, from oils and watercolours to landscapes and portraits, with a special emphasis on his vivid and deceptively simple watercolours, and his fluent drawings of the people going about their everyday lives. Also included are a group of his self-portraits, presenting ‘the ugliest man on the China coast’ as he regarded himself, at varying ages and in contrasting states of mind. Exhibits will be drawn from major UK institutions such as the British Museum , Victoria and Albert Museum , National Portrait Gallery , British Library , The Courtauld Gallery , as well as from private collections and HSBC’s corporate art collection. The majority of the loans have not been seen by the British public before.

The exhibition also includes works by Chinnery’s contemporaries such as the pen and watercolour drawing of Tom Raw visits Chinnery in his studio by Sir Charles D’Oyly (1781-1845), illustrating the long satirical poem about the innocent young cadet newly arrived in India. Having your portrait painted by Chinnery was a rite of passage! However, according to D’Oyly, Chinnery liked ‘landscape painting a thousand times better than portrait painting’ and this is evident in the group of Figures at the water’s edge by a ruined tomb, Bengal and the stunning panoramic view of Macao. The latter is a study for an oil painting, also in the exhibition, and contrasts the more intimate studies of street traders and fishermen.


The publicly stated mission of Asia House is to build dynamic links between the diverse communities of Europe and Asia. The organisation seeks to achieve this by promoting a greater understanding of the distinctive and varied cultures, arts, religions and commercial opportunities presented by the growing vibrant economies of Asia. Asia House runs public events programmes covering arts and culture, business and economics and policy and politics covering 40 countries form the Persian Gulf to the Pacific. Highlights of the annual programme include the Pan-Asia Film Festival in March, the Festival of Asian Literature in May and the Asian Business Leaders Summit in October. Historical and Contemporary art from Asia is displayed in a varied exhibitions programme running throughout the year. Asia House Cultural Programmes feature lectures and discussion, exhibitions, film and performance, from or about 40 countries of Asia from the Persian Gulf to the Pacific annual events such as the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature, the Asia House Pan-Asia Film Festival, the Connecting Contemporary Cultures series, and a broad program of talks, debates and discussions. Asia House's headquarters at 63 New Cavendish Street, London is a Grade II* listed building, originally planned by Robert and James Adam on the Duke of Portland’s Marylebone Estate in the 1770s. By 1775, however, the Adams’ attention had turned to the creation of Portland Place, and neo-classical architect John Johnson took over the site, erecting the townhouse that has since been redeveloped as Asia House. The rooms retain many of their original features – including bookcases designed by Sir John Soane and plaster cornicing – while other parts of the building have been modernised to create café and gallery spaces. In November 2010, Asia House expanded its mission to fully embrace the reemergent Silk Road region as a landbridge between Asia and Europe with the launch at the House of Lords of the Central Asia and South Caucasus Association (CASCA). The new association will expand and amplify Asia House's business and cultural programmes to include Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), the Southern Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) as well as Mongolia, a region broadly defined in prior centuries as Inner Asia. Visit the organisation's website at ... http://www.asiahouse.org/net/

---

Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~