Guangzhou Art Museum

Initially functioning as Zhongyuan Library, the Guangzhou Art Museum is located in the east of Yuexiu Mountain. The museum was built in 1927 in the traditional Chinese style with the proposal of the Kuomintang senior statesman, Li Jishen, and it follows the example of Wenhua Hall of the Imperial Palace in Beijing with its blue bricks and green tiles. The art museum represents the unique aesthetic preferences of the Chinese people toward traditional architecture, and it was open to the public in February 1957.

The Guangzhou Art Museum commits itself to collecting the calligraphic and painting works from all of China’s mighty dynasties, holding art exhibitions, and popularizing art education to benefit the community. There is an exhibit hall 300 square meters in size, and a gallery of 100 square meters. The museum holds more than 8,000 different kinds of artwork from the Song (960-1279), the Yuan (1206-1368), the Ming (1368-1644), and the Qing (1616-1911) Dynasties, as well as the modern times, including calligraphic works, oil paintings, watercolor paintings, opaque watercolor paintings, engravings, sketchpads, sculptures, historic pieces, and rubbings. Many of these are treasured as National A-Class Cultural Relics. The tablet corridor was built in the shape of a big square in the front of the museum in 1987, where 118 pieces of stone inscriptions by ancient famous figures are embedded. The corridor was then enlarged in the east of the museum in 1998, and another 58 stone inscriptions were added. As well, Gao Jianfu’s Memorial Hall and Chen Shuren’s Memorial Hall are located behind the art museum, both of which are dedicated to the famous modern painters of their name.

As for the museum’s greater influence, a number of calligraphic and painting exhibits are held regularly for public enjoyment, all of which were created by famous Chinese calligraphers and painters. These shows attract numerous visitors from all over the world in appreciation. Further popularizing the Guangzhou Art Museum are the many illustrated books that have been published in recent years, including “Guangdong Calligraphic Works in the Ming and the Qing Periods,” and “Guangzhou Art Museum Partings from the Ming and the Qing Dynasties.” Finally, throughout the year, the Guangzhou Art Museum often works with with the other famous museums, art galleries, and cultural institutions to hold exhibitions as a gesture of international art collaboration.

Address: Zhenhai Road, Yuexiu Garden, Guangzhou
Opening hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day except Monday
Bus routes: 109, 10, 110, 111, 184, 190, 191, 201, 210, 543, 33, 5445, 544, 211, 225, 280, and 233