A posthumous look at the life of Max Liu

Until he was 38 years old, Max Liu (劉其偉) had no inkling of his talents. When the then electrical engineer went to an exhibition of paintings by Hsiang Hong (香洪), who was also an engineer, he became

convinced that he could paint, too. Two years later, the autodidact held his first solo exhibition in Taipei's Chungshan Hall. Until his death at age 92 last month, Liu remained the "Picasso of Taiwan" in the eyes of art critics here for his semi-abstract watercolors celebrating the primitive and the wild.

Explorer of Art: A Memorial Exhibition of Max Liu, the current exhibition at the National Museum of History, shows 120 works spanning four decades of Liu's creative career. The works in the comprehensive exhibition are divided into eight themes -- one of which consists only of Liu's unfinished last painting. On the last day of his life, Liu was still working on the untitled abstract and about to tear it up out of dissatisfaction when his heart failed.

"Originally we planned this to be a thematic exhibition. Now it has to be a memorial one, much to our regret," said museum head Huang Kuang-nan (黃光男), at the press conference for the event. "Liu transcended life," said Chen Huei-mei (鄭惠美), author of Max Liu: An Explorer and Wizard and curator of the exhibition.

"Many of us spend our lives on just one enterprise. Liu pursued various aspects of life: adventure, art, anthropology, environmental protection and so on. He

challenged life to the utmost."

Although painting led to an unexpectedly colorful life for Liu, he originally intended it as an emotional outlet. "The first half of my life was full of discontent and frequent frustration. ... Painting was a way for me to save myself from pessimism and ... to dissipate my bad mood," Liu was

once quoted as saying about his impoverished and wandering childhood and dull adult life as a government worker.

Liu's idea of painting as a diversion from life's boredom turned into serious endeavor in 1965, when he went to Vietnam to work as an engineer for the US military during the Vietnam war. Hard work in daytime did not prevent the energetic painter from painting at night or going to sketch in neighboring countries whenever he was free.

The Peninsula -- Epic (半島-史詩) section shows Liu's works from this prolific period. The semi-abstract watercolors portray religious ceremonies and Hindu deities in dreamy colors.

An artist in the thick of war, Liu seemed to concern imself not with the intricacies of warfare but the mystery of religion and the influence of traditions and heritage on everyday life. Works like Peaceful and Fruitful

Year (太平年) and Ritual of Fire (火的儀式) capture the artistic traditions left by the ancient empires of Angkor, Siam and Cham. The lasting influence of these cultures on Liu made the two years in Indochina a turning

point in his career.

Shortly after returning to Taiwan at 58, Liu quit his government job to teach in college. Regarded by his students as an unassuming professor with a crude sense of humor, Liu remained an enthusiastic teacher all his life.

It was also soon after his life in Vietnam that Liu actively began participating in field trips studying the cultures of minorities and indigenous people. His strong interest in ancient civilizations took him to

South Korea, the Philippines, the remains of the Maya and Inca civilizations in Latin America and Taiwan's Aboriginal communities.