An exhibition featuring a selection of compelling masterpieces by Italian Baroque painters from the valuable collection of the Capodimonte Museum, Italy, "The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: The Road to the Baroque - Masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum", open to the public starting from July 15 at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), enabling visitors to experience the charm and magnificence of Baroque art from the 17th century.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on July 14, the Secretary for Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Kevin Yeung, said, "The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has been collaborating with world-class museums across the globe to bring top-notch exhibitions to Hong Kong over the years. If you just recall the very well-received exhibition of the Uffizi collection of Italian Renaissance art in Hong Kong last time, I can assure you that this exhibition of Baroque art is equally unique and no less inspiring."
Other officiating guests included the Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong, Clemente Contestabile; the Executive Director of Charities and Community of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), Leong Cheung; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Vincent Liu; and the Museum Director of the HKMoA, Maria Mok. The Director of the Capodimonte Museum, Sylvain Bellenger, also delivered a pre-recorded speech during the ceremony.
Originating in Italy, Baroque is another critical period in Western art history after the Renaissance. Characterized by the dramatic contrast of light and dark, exaggerated movement, and pronounced figures' facial expressions, historians coined the term "Baroque" to define 17th-century Italian art focusing on high tension and realistic representations of emotions. Baroque artists were arguably the originators of immersive experiences. Their paintings are compelling and strikingly real, often immersing the audience in the scene.
The Capodimonte Museum in Naples, Italy, is one of the largest and most famous museums in Italy, with over 1 million attendants per year. The museum is famous for some of the world's finest collections of Italian paintings. Collaborating with the HKMoA, this is the Capodimonte Museum's debut exhibition in Hong Kong. The exhibition features 40 late Renaissance works from northern and central Italy and Neapolitan Baroque masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum that have never been shown in Hong Kong. These works come from the two major nuclei - the Farnese Collection and the Bourbon Collection of the museum. The showcase includes religion, saints, mythology, still life and landscape paintings of legendary masters, such as Titian, Annibale Carracci and Artemisia Gentileschi, to present the stylistic characteristics and artistic accomplishments of Italian Neapolitan art in the 16th and 17th centuries. This exhibition is the largest Baroque exhibition in Hong Kong in recent years.
To complement the exhibition, the Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research) and the Founding Dean of the School of Creative Arts of the Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor Johnny Poon, designed Baroque music and soundscapes for selected exhibits. These aural elements add a new dimension to art appreciation and help open the door to Baroque art. The HKMoA has also invited three local artists to provide artistic responses with various creative media to the works of the Baroque masters. Their efforts have enriched the exhibition with a Hong Kong perspective, allowing the audience to enjoy an art experience that connects the past and the present.
New media artist Kingsley Ng draws inspiration from the Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi's autobiographical painting and juxtaposes Galileo Galilei's laws of the pendulum with dramatic Baroque chiaroscuro to express the impact of modern science on Baroque art. In this immersive space, the audience can feel the tension between light, shadow, and stillness and movement. Visual artist Chow Chun-fai reinterprets Baroque characters with photography installations, introducing elements of local culture to Baroque art for a dazzling fusion of East and West, and the past and present. With great imagination, illustrator missquai works with the HKMoA curatorial team to present some of the tales, significance and techniques of the Baroque period through stories and games. The illustrations provide the audience with a fun-packed journey through art.
The exhibition is one of the programs for the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It will run from July 15 to November 2 at the Special Gallery on the second floor of the HKMoA (10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon). For details of the exhibition and the admission arrangements, please visit the website at hk.art.museum/en_US/web/ma/exhibitions-and-events/the-road-to-the-baroque-masterpieces-from-the-capodimonte-museum.html or call 2721 0116 for enquiries.
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