The “Lingnan Painting School” is one of the most influential painting schools in Chinese painting at the end of the 19th century. Mr. Ou Haonian (born in 1935) —an apprentice of Zhao Shao’ang since the age of seventeen—a prominent figure of the Lingnan Painting School, spares no efforts learning painting and inherits the “eclectic” thoughts of the Lingnan Painting School. Being inclusive, he has a thorough knowledge of both western and traditional Chinese culture, and becomes the backbone of the third generation of the Lingnan Painting School.

The artistic achievements of Ou Haonian are diverse—he is not only adept in painting flowers, birds, landscapes, figures, and animals, but also good at calligraphy and poetry. Ou Haonian Art Gallery, which includes such works as Red Plum and Sea Hawk created in the 1950s&1960s, and also his latest creations, presents the artistic history of Ou over 50 years with a wide range of subjects in the form of calligraphy and paintings. The works on show reveal the tension and appeal of Lingnan Painting School, as well as the diverse magnificence and infinite vitality of the natural life on the land of China.