Apollo Magazine

Matthew Wong: The Realm of Appearances

The painter drew on wide range of influences to create his ethereal landscapes

Unknown Pleasures (2019), Matthew Wong. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; photo: © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY; © 2023 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Unknown Pleasures (detail; 2019), Matthew Wong. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; photo: © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY; © 2023 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

In the course of his tragically short six-year career, the self-taught painter Matthew Wong was acclaimed for his bright, abstract landscapes in various media – oil, ink, watercolour and gouache – that display a wide range of influences. Unknown Pleasures (2019), for instance, owes a debt to 17th-century Chinese painting, while Old Town (2017) seems inspired by Post-Impressionism. More than 40 paintings, including Wong’s characteristically ethereal landscapes such as The West (2017) and the fantastical See You on the Other Side (2019), will go on show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (1 July–18 February 2024). Find out more on the MFA’s website

Preview belowView Apollo’s Art Diary

See You On the Other Side (2019), Matthew Wong. Photo: Alex Yudzon; courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; © 2023 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Unknown Pleasures (2019), Matthew Wong. Photo: © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY; courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; © 2023 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Old Town (2017), Matthew Wong. Courtesy Adam Green Art Advisory and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; © 2023 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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