The Lingnan (Guangdong and the nearby provinces in southeastern China) School of Painting is a famous painting school in China, which was established in the Shixiang Garden in Haizhu district.

More than 100 years ago, artists Ju Chao and Ju Lian, painted and taught in the Shixiang Garden, nurturing a large number of accomplished painters such as Gao Jianfu and Chen Shuren.

Then, the second generation of masters at the Lingnan School of Painting, Zhao Shao'ang, Li Xiongcai, Guan Shanyue and Yang Shanshen, pushed the school to a new peak.

It was Zhao and Yang who made the Lingnan School of Painting internationally famous.

Zhao incorporated English watercolor techniques with the traditional techniques of the Lingnan School of Painting and held many exhibitions overseas. Yang taught painting in Hong Kong and held solo exhibitions in Singapore, the United States, Canada and Japan.

Zhao and Yang made the Lingnan School of Painting one of the most widely known Chinese painting schools. Many countries and regions around the world have works by students from the Lingnan School of Painting.

A painting by Chen Xiangbo. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

Last July, Chen Xiangbo, vice chairman of the Guangdong Artists Association and a student of Guan Shanyue, held a Lingnan art exhibition at the Shixiang Garden. Haizhu has also established the digital Guan Shanyue Art Museum, which recreates Guan's paintings with digital technology and displays their beauty online.