Lotus

As the inscription states, this painting was made as a demonstration for an ink painting class at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The subject is lotus flowers with dense foliage, rendered in an innovative style with dark swatches of puddled ink. Although Lü Shoukun is known for his characteristically sparse abstract compositions done with swift brushstrokes, this painting shows a more representational mode of his art enhanced with a strong contrast of black and white.

An inspiring teacher of numerous local painters, Lü pioneered the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong during the 1960s, breaking free of refined brushwork modes and opting for bolder, more dynamic and expressionist styles. He was the first modern Hong Kong painter to attract public notice abroad, having been given a solo exhibition in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1959.