On 23 February, Leonard Joel presents Bridging Cultures: The Collection of Christine and James Tzeng Chiang Liao—a distinguished assemblage of Asian paintings and works on paper from the estate of the late Dr Christine McEchran Liao (1943–2025), founding director of the Chinese Museum in Melbourne, and her husband, James Tzeng Chiang Liao (1933–2021).
The collection features works by important modern and contemporary artists including Huang Yongyu, Guan Shanyue, Zhao Shao’ang, Ding Yanyong, Huang Miaozi, Ai Qing, among many others.
Born during the final years of the Second World War, Dr Christine McEchran Liao was one of twins to architect William Henderson Eales and microbiologist Jean Dudley Eales. In 1962, she entered the newly established Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Melbourne, becoming one of the institution’s first students of Chinese language and linguistics.
Christine’s early fascination with Asia can be traced to her grandfather—a Scottish sea captain whose voyages stirred her imagination like a wind blowing in from distant oceans. Weekend dinners in the family home in Camberwell were often shared with visiting students from Singapore and Malaya. Asia, it seemed, had always been quietly guiding her path.
Graduating with distinction in 1965, Christine received a full scholarship to study in Taiwan—the first time the University of Melbourne awarded such support to a newly graduated student. The move introduced her to a vibrant world of thinkers, artists and writers, and to the man who would become her husband—mentor, friend and future partner in life—James Liao, ten years her senior. Three months later the pair married, and their first son, Bill, was born the following year.
While undertaking her master’s degree, Christine returned to the University of Melbourne as a lecturer—the first alumna to teach in the Chinese department.
Her MA thesis, completed in 1972, examined the works of modern romantic poet Xu Zhimo.
Her doctoral thesis, completed in 1980, compared the symbolist poetry of Bian Zhilin and Ai Qing. She became the first Western scholar to earn a PhD in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne—an enduring testament to her devotion to the lyric romanticism of modern Chinese literature.
In 1985, when the Chinese Museum opened its doors in Melbourne’s Chinatown, Christine was the natural and unanimous choice as its founding director.
Her fluency in Chinese, her passion for Asian culture, and her deep commitment to cross-cultural understanding positioned her uniquely for the role.
At a time when contemporary Chinese and Asian art was gaining momentum, Christine recognised a profound absence within Australia’s cultural landscape: a need for visibility, scholarship, and representation. She devoted herself wholly to the museum—juggling donors, sponsors, funding bodies, and community expectations—so intently that, as she joked, she nearly lived inside its walls. Her second son, Tristan, was born amid that whirlwind of purpose.
During this time, James Liao served with Radio Australia, overseeing Chinese-language programming and producing extensive interviews with leading Chinese artists and cultural figures. Together, the couple co-founded the Chinese Artists Society of Australia, championing Asian art and artists across the nation. Their advocacy paved the way for exhibitions—including presentations at the National Gallery of Victoria—and helped foster a vibrant artistic community bridging continents.
Among the family’s closest friends was the celebrated artist Huang Yongyu, who visited Melbourne many times and stayed with the Liaos for extended periods.
Huang was charmed by Australia’s landscapes—most of all the soaring mountain ash forests of the Dandenong Ranges, which sparked new creative energy. Several works in the present collection were born from these visits, including portrait drawings of Christine’s father and sketchbooks for her young son—rare and intimate gestures of affection.
The Liaos also enjoyed lasting friendships with Guan Shanyue and poet-painter Ai Qing, whose inscriptions and dedications across works in the collection speak to decades of shared ideals, artistry, and camaraderie.
This collection is, above all, a portrait of two lives lived across cultures. It reflects Christine and James Liao’s scholarship, friendships, and unwavering belief in art as a meeting ground between worlds. More than a gathering of paintings, the collection charts a journey across languages, communities and continents.
Here, art becomes not only a bridge between cultures, but a vessel of memory—carrying forward the spirit and legacy of a family whose lives were shaped by both China and Australia.
Luke Guan, Head of Asian Art
Top Image: CHEN WEN HSI 1906-1992. Possum, ink and colour on paper, 44 x 34cm. $2,000-3,000
January 2026