Ten Artistic Figures from Taiwan that You Should Know

As a student of Ishikawa Kinichiro, Ni Chiang-huai is one of the first generation of Taiwanese western-style painters and is believed to compose Taiwan’s first watercolor painting.  

The subject of "Eirakucho" is a district in Taipei, the freely running water and shadows on the ground highlight the presence of the brilliant subtropical sunlight. The viewer's perspective disappears at the end of the lane with boundless imaginations. 

Siotuki Touhou's works on nature and culture in Taiwan contributing immensely to the development of contemporary art in Taiwan. His works related on  the largest indigenous uprising against Japanese rule  Wushe Incident expressed his deep feeling for them.

In this work, Shiotsuki used an intense shade of orange as a color base, freely rendering the figure and the figure's clothing and posture with other hues. The four white lines, running from top to bottom highlight the power of ethnic symbols. The glare in the figure's eyes seems to transmit a silent protest, lending the work a surrealist quality, deepening its symbolism and spiritual connotations.

Chen Cheng-po was the first ever Taiwanese artist to be honored with a pace in a Japanese art exhibition.

The work's focal point is a large poinciana, with c red-crowned ranes and white geese  playing in the pond shows a lively and freehand brushwork, which shows that Chen often sought to integrate ink-painting's linear rhythms into his oil paintings. 

Liou Jin-tang devoted himself in bring together Chinese and western paintings.  

“Orange” used thick black lines to limn his subject and the objects around her, a clear-cut, motif-like depiction. The full outlines of the figure's body, and the thick clothing the figure wears emphasizes her `body's mass and physicality. 

Kotou Gouhara taught in Taiwan’s school for 19 years and played a leader’s role in promoting contemporary art in Taiwan and influenced many Taiwanese painters.   He is noted for detailed depictions of life.

 “The Garden” uses tight-knit composition depicts a papaya tree, two turkeys, and a bamboo fence, brilliantly rendered with contour drawing and vivid gouache colors. The painting deftly captures the leisurely ambiance of a Taiwanese countryside garden in days gone by.

Lin Yu-shan was renowned for his realist style and for the characters in his paintings giving off a natural ordinary feel.   “Lotus Pond” is a representative of his style.  

It captures the moment in the early morning when the lotus flowers. The leaves are blue and mineral green, the flowers are bright red and the water is gold, giving the picture a rich elegant feel.

A canonical “Nihonga” Taiwanese artist, Kuo Hsueh-hu has been hailed as one of the “Three Youths of the Taiwan Arts Exhibition". His painting styles are highly diverse, illustrating a deep and integral understanding of Chinese, Western, and Japanese painting styles. 

Over the Cool Autumn Water is a rare four-section flower-and-bird painting that depicts a willow tree, a silver pheasant, skunkvine flowers and peony. The lines and shades of colors illustrate the strength of the tree and accentuate a sense of depth and vividness. 

Lu Tieh-chou’s painting career perfectly reflects the development of contemporary painting in Taiwan. “Moon” ornamented with silver powder and tenderly shines in the sky, and a few flowers and plants sway in the wind under the moonlight.  

Lu Tieh-chou emphasized on objective observation and meticulous depiction in his works, through which ordinary plants are imbued with elegance and refinement, projecting vitality and lyricism. The work embodies the spirit and style of the Kyoto School.

This painting shown a woman dressed in a white cheongsam and embroidered shoes, she holds a fan and sits on the floor and a faint smile on her lips revealing the joy in her heart. 

Chen Jing-hui is skilled in using lines to depict contours. The line delineating the body's structure, vividly expresses the artist's aesthetic ideal, and recorded the fashion style of the time.