Spoilum

Spoilum was a Chinese artist active in Guangzhou between 1785 and 1810, during the Old China Trade. He was the earliest oil painter in Canton. He painted portraits of Chinese and Western merchants and sea captains in the Western style painting with oil on canvas rather than ink on paper or silk in the Chinese style. He created paintings of Chinese hong merchants Eshing (silk merchant) and Puan Kee Qua. His portraits of Western merchants typically required a two- or three-hour sitting, and cost $10. He also mastered the European technique of reverse glass painting. Little is known of his life, although he was one of a family of painters, including his grandson Lam Qua, and is said to have traveled extensively in the West. He was the youngest of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a group of unconventional artists who challenged the orthodox style of painting. He often visited Beijing, where he caused a sensation with his paintings of ghosts, which he claimed to have seen with his own eyes. He died at the age of sixty-six and was buried in Yangzhou. He was regarded as one of the most influential painters of his time and his works are highly valued by collectors and museums.