Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors were furious yesterday at the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum because a painting of great historic significance by Taiwanese artist Lan Yin-ting (藍蔭鼎) was hidden in an archive and folded in half.
Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) said this shows that the 228 Memorial Museum is handling the nation’s valuable cultural treasures in a roughshod manner.
The painting was an important period piece by Lan, with portrayals of key government figures at a July 4 reception at the US consulate in Taipei in 1946.
Photo: Lin Shu-hui, Taipei Times
Lan (1903-1979) was born in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東) and went on to become a leading Taiwanese artist, and was once named one of the world’s top 10 watercolor painters by the European Art Critic Society and the American Art Critic Society.
He attended the reception at the US consulate in 1946, and produced the painting, which proved prescient in light of the 228 Massacre eight months later.
Lan portrayed the tension between US diplomatic officials and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) military officers who had shortly before taken over the administration of Taiwan.
The painting showed KMT-appointed then-Taiwan governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀) talking to the top US official while then-chief of staff for the Taiwan Garrison Command Ke Yuan-fen (柯遠芬), dressed in his military uniform, stares straight ahead, haughtily ignoring the other figures.
Standing next to Ke is US vice consul George Kerr, who later penned the book Formosa Betrayed, to document his experience of the 228 Massacre events.
Lan gave the painting to Kerr as a gift.
After Kerr’s death in 1992, then-museum director Iap Phok-bun (葉博文) purchased the painting and other 228-related documents from Kerr’s family.
Chien, Taipei City Coucilor Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and some others went to the museum yesterday to inspect it.
Chien requested to see this particular painting by Lan, but at first, the staff could not find it.
Museum staff eventually located the painting, but Chien was indignant because it was folded in half and placed in a folder.
“This painting was appraised by experts, who valued it at more than NT$1 million [US$33,000]. It is also a key historic item, documenting an important chapter of Taiwan’s history. Much effort was involved to bring it back to Taiwan,” Chien said. “But we found it folded up and it had sustained some damage. This indicates the museum is handling these valuable items very badly.”
In response, museum director Hsieh Ying-tseng (謝英從) said the painting was folded up when they received it.
However, Chien questioned the explanation, and said even if that were the case, it should not have been folded up and hidden in the archive files.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS