The so-called "first-generation artists" in Taiwan, who were mostly born in the first decade of the 20th century, share the influence of their Japanese training in oil painting and traces of European impressionism. Several have become quite famous, such as Liao Ji-chun (
Another well-known painter in this group is He Te-lai (何德來), born in 1904, who is currently being honored with a solo exhibition at the National Museum of History titled "Dialogue between the Alien Land and Homeland," which showcases 114 of his paintings.
He, who died in 1986, lived most of his life in Japan and has received little recognition, given the fact that he never sold his paintings. He left behind about 200 oil paintings, 140 of which were donated to the Taipei Fine Art Museum and the rest of which were held by relatives in his native Hsinchu. He was a key promoter of Western art in Hsinchu through his teaching of oil painting and the founding in 1932 of an art study group with painter Li Che-fan (
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY
He is best known for his landscape paintings of Hsinchu and Japan, which provide a visual record of spots before the advent of unsightly modern development. He is also unique for his bold adoption of Fauvism, using bright, contrasting colors.
Some of the highlights on exhibit are Summer Landscape which depicts rural Hsinchu in 1933 and Scene of Sea, a painting of a Japanese seashore. Two heart-wrenching pieces are Beancurd (1971), a picture of his wife's last meal at their home before she moved full-time to a hospital where she later died, and Night Scene of Ochanomizu (1971), a somber image of the scene outside the window of He's wife's hospital room.
Art Notes:
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY
What: The dialogue between alien land and homeland -- A commemorative exhibition of He Te-lai (異鄉與故鄉的對話：何德來紀念畫展)
Where: National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49, Nanhai Rd., Taipei (台北市南海路49號)
When: Until July 29
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