Anyone wishing to familiarize themselves with a few of the most renowned contemporary Chinese painters of the early 20th is advised to check out Lin and Keng Gallery over the next few weeks. Taipei's commercial gallery is playing host to a collection of works from five artists who earned not only a name but a good price for their prized paintings.
Unfamiliar to several art collectors, Wu Da-yu (吳大羽) is often overlooked in the pantheon of famous Chinese painters. He was, however, one of the forerunners of a movement that blended European and Chinese concepts of art. He is one of the first to have studied in Europe before returning to China to teach. It was during his studies that Wu began experimenting with expressionism and cubism. Several of his works were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976). Those painted after, including the pieces on display now, are mostly smaller abstract bright and colorful paintings.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LIN AND KENG GALLERY
More widely known among the domestic art circle is Lin Feng-mian (林風眠), who co-founded the Hangzhou Arts School with Wu. Referred to as the godfather of modern Chinese art, Lin, like his partner, also choose to study the techniques of European artists in France and Germany. While Lin's work is reminiscent of expressionist painters it is always within the context of traditional Chinese painting. His works on show are mostly portraits of women, which use Western techniques but have strong Asian flavor. His blue and purple colorings give them a lively effect, almost to the point of
PHOTO COURTESY OF LIN AND KENG GALLERY
animation.
A student of Wu and Lin, Zao Wou-ki (趙無極) attended their art school in Hangzhou. Unlike his instructors he did not study in France, but did move there later in his career. His work is a combination of traditional Chinese landscapes and abstract art. His later works are more abstract and this aspect is illustrated in his paintings of barely recognizable landscapes, also on display. His works are the most interesting and his use of color and light creates a chaotic yet tranquil effect.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LIN AND KENG GALLERY
Fetching upwards of NT$15 million for his works, Sanyu (常玉), like Zao is considered to be one of the most sought after Chinese artists. Unlike Zao, however, Sanyu did not live to see the fruits of his labor. A large portion of his paintings are female nudes in which he uses techniques similar to those used in Chinese calligraphy. There are no naked women on display at the gallery, but there is a collection of classic floral stills. His series of pink chrysanthemums have a unique charm in the way they combine light brushstrokes and soft coloring, yet manage to avoid being dull like so many floral stills.
Unlike a large number of artists during the 1920s, including those mentioned above, Yun Gee (朱沅芷) opted for the US, where he studied and experimented with modern art styles. Eventually, however, he followed the trend and moved to Paris where his work began to gain credibility among intellectuals and the art crowd. He is said to have preferred painting abstract human forms using a cubist style. His paintings at the gallery illustrate his learned techniques but are less abstract then some of his later pieces.
Given the limited space inside the gallery the collection of paintings only scratches the surface of the early 20th century Chinese art movement. It does, however, provide a short but sweet introduction to those that launched it.
Exhibition notes:
What: The Best of the Contemporary Chinese Painters
(
Where: Lin and Keng Gallery (
Telephone: (02) 2750 8811.
When: The exhibition runs until Dec. 5. The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm.
In 2020, a labor attache from the Philippines in Taipei sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding that a Filipina worker accused of “cyber-libel” against then-president Rodrigo Duterte be deported. A press release from the Philippines office from the attache accused the woman of “using several social media accounts” to “discredit and malign the President and destabilize the government.” The attache also claimed that the woman had broken Taiwan’s laws. The government responded that she had broken no laws, and that all foreign workers were treated the same as Taiwan citizens and that “their rights are protected,
A white horse stark against a black beach. A family pushes a car through floodwaters in Chiayi County. People play on a beach in Pingtung County, as a nuclear power plant looms in the background. These are just some of the powerful images on display as part of Shen Chao-liang’s (沈昭良) Drifting (Overture) exhibition, currently on display at AKI Gallery in Taipei. For the first time in Shen’s decorated career, his photography seeks to speak to broader, multi-layered issues within the fabric of Taiwanese society. The photographs look towards history, national identity, ecological changes and more to create a collection of images
The recent decline in average room rates is undoubtedly bad news for Taiwan’s hoteliers and homestay operators, but this downturn shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. According to statistics published by the Tourism Administration (TA) on March 3, the average cost of a one-night stay in a hotel last year was NT$2,960, down 1.17 percent compared to 2023. (At more than three quarters of Taiwan’s hotels, the average room rate is even lower, because high-end properties charging NT$10,000-plus skew the data.) Homestay guests paid an average of NT$2,405, a 4.15-percent drop year on year. The countrywide hotel occupancy rate fell from
March 16 to March 22 In just a year, Liu Ching-hsiang (劉清香) went from Taiwanese opera performer to arguably Taiwan’s first pop superstar, pumping out hits that captivated the Japanese colony under the moniker Chun-chun (純純). Last week’s Taiwan in Time explored how the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) theme song for the Chinese silent movie The Peach Girl (桃花泣血記) unexpectedly became the first smash hit after the film’s Taipei premiere in March 1932, in part due to aggressive promotion on the streets. Seeing an opportunity, Columbia Records’ (affiliated with the US entity) Taiwan director Shojiro Kashino asked Liu, who had
RSS