Sketches of Sydney to be auctioned

Let's go downunder to Australia now, where a rare sketchbook containing paintings of early colonial Sydney is up for sale after gathering dust in a family collection for 200 years. It contains scenes of Australia's largest city as it was in the early nineteenth century and is expected to fetch a high price at auction this week.

These watercolors are now known to be the work of Lieutenant Edward Close, an English officer turned colonial gentleman who arrived in Sydney in 1817.

The view of the harbor where the Opera House now stands is rather different than two centuries ago but it impressed this artist enough to inspire many sketches.

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Edward Close was born in India in 1790, and was educated in England before travelling to Australia with his army regiment.

As an engineer, he also spent time in other parts of New South Wales and found time to paint emerging colonial settlements in Newcastle and Illawarra.

Georgina Pemberton of Sotheby's Auction House says that although Close was not previously considered a particularly influential colonial artist, that view is now changing.

Georgina Pemberton from Sotheby’s Auction House said, "He was an amateur but I think that he's actually going to be reassessed. There is another sketchbook of his in the National Library and a beautiful panoramic view he did of Sydney, which is in the Mitchell Library. And I think now that this sketchbook has come to light, he'll be reassessed as a more serious very early colonial artist."

Close sketched Sydney and its people, recording their efforts to build a new society despite their convict background.

But despite its historical importance, this sketchbook has only recently come to light.

It will be auctioned at Sotheby's in Melbourne on May 5th.

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Li Shaobais paper-cutting

"Style Watch" today ventures into the artistic world of Li Shaobai.

The artist who was born in Shanghai's traditional residential compound, Shikumen, has been painting and making paper-cuts the unique architectures in his childhood residence.

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Artist continues expressionist crusade

The history of Chinese oil painting has its roots in the early decades of the last century. It's a relatively short period of artistic experimentation, yet what we see today in Chinese oil paintings is an awesome range of diverse styles and a major attempt to enter the discourse of the contemporary art world. Among the leading Chinese oil painters is 52-year-old Chao Ge who distinguishes himself with his idealist passion and striking representation of the spiritual world of the Chinese public. We sat down with Chao Ge recently to talk about his new artistic endeavors and aspirations.

China's societal progress and economic development has put the country on a roller coaster of urbanization and globalization. As a result, many Chinese began to feel puzzled and confused, even though they were gaining material wealth.

As an artist and thinker, Chao Ge finds himself constantly finding both inspiration and hope, as well as the torture of doubt and frustration. But he's found an outlet for those complicated emotions - depicting everyday Chinese, their loss, confusion, hopes and boredom in the face of a rapidly changing society.

Oil painter Chao Ge said, "What happens in this era? This changing time is full of contradictions, happiness and bitterness as well as conflicts of different values. They include good against evil, people's openness versus their confinement, and privacy coupled with commonality. From all these perspectives, I feel the abundant complexity of life. And as an artist, I have to speak."

Chao Ge's paintings of ordinary Chinese people are not only portraits of their physical features, but more importantly, portraits of their psychological state and inner spiritual worlds.

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Sichuan Opera artist Shen Tiemei

With heart and soul invested in her career, Sichuan Opera singer Shen Tiemei has pushed the declining traditional genre to a new historic high. Single handedly she has taken on the challenge to breathe new life into the centuries-old operatic genre. On Today's the List, we look at her career orbit as today's most outstanding Sichuan Opera artist.

A land nurtures its people according to its natural environment. In China, every part of the land inspires an operatic tradition, distinctive to its region.

Sichuan Opera, prevailed in its home province for centuries, giving voice to the values and cultural essence of the people.

Shen Tiemei, one of today's most accomplished Sichuan opera performers, sees an inseparable connection between opera, her identity and the identity of the people of Sichuan.

Sichuan Opera artist Shen Tiemei said, "Sichuan Opera links to the entire province of Sichuan. The quality of Sichuan people was most evidently exposed after this year's Wenchuan earthquake. The people showed the world their solidarity, bravery, optimism and humor even though faced with disaster. These qualities are embodied and reflected in the classic works of Sichuan Opera."

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Glass artist Guan Donghai

No one knows precisely when or where glass was first produced. Glass seems to have been manufactured as far back as the second millennium B.C. by the Egyptians and perhaps the Phoenicians. The Bible, compares glass to gold. Today, glass is a common necessity. It is also the basis of an art form. It has special flexibility and changes its qualities under different temperatures. It is a medium for artists. On today's the List, we will get to know a glass artist, who not only sculptures the fragile material into beautiful shapes and colors, but also endows it with new meaning.

It's hard to recognize the common characteristics of glass, "glittery", "transparent", and "fragile" while facing the works of Guan Donghai. The pieces look more like bronze, pottery, marble, and fossils. They exude an enduring toughness.

Glass Artist Guan Donghai said, "I've been seeking a feel of grandeur, aestheticism and civility. I found these elements in ancient China's bronze vessels and architecture. These are part of the unique beauty of China. But I don't imitate traditional aesthetics. I reinterpret them in my own way. Glass is a fictile material. It can be changed into different shapes. So I was thinking how can it be sculpted to express the concept of power. I try to make glass that looks heavy and opaque. I also patch transparent and opaque glasses together. I even combine glass with other materials, like bronze, stone and wood. Thus the diversity of glass artwork can be realized."

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