SHOWING off their permanent collections, three of Shenzhen's major museums are holding their first joint show. The exhibition of 108 works by contemporary Chinese master painters including Li Keran, Pan Tianshou, Liu Haisu, Guan Shanyue and Lu Yanshao, are on display at Guan Shanyue Art Museum through June 3.

The works were selected from the collections of Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen Fine Art Museum and Guan Shanyue Art Museum. This is the first time the three art museums have held a joint exhibition, according to the show's planner, Dong Xiaoming.

"Since the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1979, the city's three major art museums have collected more than 5,600 pieces of works, which include not only Chinese paintings but woodblock prints, oil paintings and water color paintings," Dong said. Dong is also chairman of the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

The permanent collection of Shenzhen Art Museum totals about 1,500 works; Guan Shanyue Art Museum has 1,600 works; and Shenzhen Fine Art Institute more than 2,200 works.

"We can regard the exhibition as a special review of the city's achievements in establishing art collections, which is of great significance to such a young city," Dong said. Most of the art works were donated by artists or purchased with very little money, Dong said.

Established in 1976, Shenzhen Art Museum is the oldest museum in the city. In 1985, the museum successfully mounted the Shenzhen Fine Arts Festival, the first major art event since the country began opening to the outside world in the late 1970s.

Through the festival, more than 30 leading Chinese painters, including Guan Shanyue and Wu Guanzhong, were attracted to exhibit their works in Shenzhen. Many of the painters donated works to the museum after the festival.

In 2003, painter Huang Yongyu chose the Shenzhen Art Museum as the first stop of his national art exhibition tour celebrating his 80th birthday.

Even before its opening in 1987, Shenzhen Fine Art Institute had obtained one of its prized works from the Chinese master painter Song Wenzhi.

Because the institute had not yet been built, Song painted a landscape based on the museum's blueprints and models on postcards.

Titled "Green Water and Mountains Take on a New Look," the painting depicted what the artist imagined the institute would look like.

Shenzhen Fine Art Institute was the first museum in the country to popularize the concept "urban landscape."

In 1998, the institute invited more than 30 leading artists from China and abroad to participate in the first international ink painting biennial in the city. All participating artists were asked to submit two urban landscape works. These works later became part of the institute's collection.

In 1995, the Chinese master painter Guan Shanyue donated 813 works to Shenzhen, which led to the city government's building a museum named after the artist.

Editor: Wing