Artist Information
Artist
Stephen Won Hung Lowe (1938-1975). Former UCBC Member ArtistRole
ArtistDate made
1969Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Quangdong, China and a long-time resident of Victoria, B.C., Stephen Won Hung Lowe was a gifted painter, an exponent of the “Lingnan school,” a progressive and atmospheric style of painting that is a distinct artistic expression of South China. He studied at the Lingnan School of Art in Hong Kong considered at the time the leading school of modern Chinese art, under Professor Zhao Shaoang (1905-1998), a master artist in China. After the chaos of civil war, Lowe immigrated to Canada at 18 years of age and his talent was soon evident. Through connections from his first job at the Union Club, he was sponsored for further study in Hong Kong. On his return, he taught painting at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, privately and at the University of Victoria. In 1970 he was invited to open his first gallery at The Empress Hotel. After his death, the family carried on Lowe’s legacy opening another branch in Calgary in 1979. The Victoria gallery closed in 2006, though the Calgary store flourishes.
Lowe held 23 exhibitions throughout his short life showcasing his delicate watercolours of birds, nature and landscapes, including a show at the newly opened Royal B.C. Museum in 1971, and a later retrospective at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. An exhibition was later held at the United Nations building in New York, and 66 originals were commissioned for the new Skyline Park Hotel in London. In 1985, as China opened to the West, Lowe’s widow took many Lowe paintings for a memorial exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, followed by shows in Nanjing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. This marked an important moment when artists, ostracized by the ten-year long Cultural Revolution in China, could be acknowledged and even celebrated. In 2016, Lowe’s paintings were chosen as a “bridge between cultures,” for the opening of the new Canadian Consulate offices in Guangzhou. Simultaneously, a show of Lowe’s work opened at the Guangzhou Museum of Art, a shrine to Lingnan-style painting masters. The Lowe family donated their collection of paintings by Lingnan masters, and some Stephen Lowe originals, to that collection.
For further information see -
Eunice Lowe, “Celebrating 30 Years: Stephen Lowe ” (1977), Eunice Lowe, "The Art of Stephen Lowe" (2000) and Eunice Lowe, “Stephen Lowe; A Bridge Between Cultures” (2016), available in the UCBC Library.
