Wu Weijia, the owner of Yizhai, came from a prominent Macanese banking family. With a passion for collecting art, Wu especially loved the Lingnan school and was close friends with artist Deng Fen. Wu was an active philanthropist who supported many art fundraising events alleviating natural disasters and war damage. In 1931, Wu purchased many paintings donated by Gao Jianfu to fundraise for the Eastern China flood. To thank Wu for this kind gesture, Gao gifted him a set of four scrolls entitled The Four Seasons (sold at Christie’s Hong Kong on 28 May 2019) the following year. During the Sino-Japanese war, Wu also assisted many artists in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau to overcome hardship. To express his appreciation for Wu’s philanthropic efforts, Deng Fen painted Portrait of Lay Buddhist Zhaoguang for him and gifted him Zhang Daqian’s Viewing Sunset in Mount Huang, a personal gift for Deng Fen from the artist. Formerly from the collection and presented here are also calligraphy by Shen Yangong and Shen Yinmo.
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