Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Lui Shou-kwan was from Heshan in Guangdong province. He graduated in economics at Guangzhou University and settled in Hong Kong in 1948. The following year he joined the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Company as an inspector, working there until 1966, but he always continued to paint. He was an energetic teacher of ink painting both at the University of Hong Kong, Department of Architecture, and in the Extramural Studies Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 1954 until his death he was active in numerous Hong Kong art societies. His work falls broadly into two categories: Hong Kong landscapes, and Chan (Zen) paintings. Lui is noted for his use of abstraction, inspired at least as much by early Chinese precedents as by American painting, and for introducing Western styles of painting in Hong Kong. Lui exhibited frequently in Hong Kong and the U.K., with exhibitions in 1963, 1967 and 1974 at the Ashmolean Museum. A further Ashmolean exhibition was held in 1982.