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Preface
Shen Jiawei
During my exhibition Zai-jian Revolution in Sydney at 4A Gallery in October of 2002, the curator Aaron Seeto told me that my painting 1966 Beijing Jeep #2 had sold to a woman from New Zealand. I had painted three versions and the second version was the best. However, it was not until 2010 when the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre was celebrating the five decades of my career with a retrospective exhibition that I asked Aaron for contact details of the person who had bought my 1966 Beijing Jeep #2. He eventually tracked down an e-mail address for Gillian Deane, but in the interim, 1966 Beijing Jeep #1 had been borrowed for the exhibition. Nonetheless, I was happy I could e-mail a launch invitation to Gillian Deane who replied that she and her husband Roderick would come.
We met for the first time at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery. Tall and graceful, Gillian is three years my senior. Roderick has a head of white hair; and underneath his thick eyebrows, his bright eyes behind his glasses looked even bigger. A highly successful economist, he is a past president of the New Zealand National Te Papa Museum. The couple lived mostly in New Zealand but were often in Sydney for business,