Taiwan Today

Taiwan saw its first exhibition of the paintings of Chang Dai-chien in 15 years at the National Museum of History in October. The most famous of contemporary Chinese painters sup­plied 48 recent works for the Taipei show and came from his home in Bra­zil to pay his respects on the 80th birthday of President Chiang Kai-shek. Chang was born in Szechwan in 1900. When the mainland fell to the Com­munists in 1949, he left to see the world. He is self-taught. After mastering the traditional style of China, he struck out on his own with imagination and vigor. His paintings remain intrinsically Chinese but with Western overtones and an increasing tendency toward abstractionism. The work at left is titled "Two Ladies".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is "A Little House", meaning the tiny one halfway up the mountain. Chang does not employ Western perspective in his paintings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A contemplative work titled "Alone With the Pine Tree". Pines are among his favorite sub­jects, as are mountains and the lovely lotus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Lotus" shows the bril­liance of Chang's brushwork. Strong leaf empha­sizes flower's delicacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chang Dai-chien's love of mountains comes from Switzerland as well as from China. These are quite clearly the Alps and not the mountains of the painter's homeland. A steeple can be seen in the bottom painting.

It is interesting, though, that the boats in the middle picture have more of a Chinese than a Western look. The trees of Chang have a black, heavy look and tend toward the abstract.

 

 

 

 

Influence of abstraction can be seen in landscape. The ink has been splash­ed on the Chi­nese cotton paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waterfall descends this somber mountain in two leaps. At the bottom, the painting lightens sufficiently to reveal houses and bridges. Chang's works have been widely exhibited in the United States and Europe. One of his paintings was sold to an American museum for the record contemporary Chinese price of US$60,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain, clouds, and fog emerge in this effective use of shading. Technique is ink splashed on golden yellow cotton paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Hills" has more patches of light than the painting at left. A quarter of a million people attended Chang's Taipei exhibition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiny boat (left foreground) almost gets lost in the big lake under a brooding mountain. During his European period, Chang Dai-chien found a friend and critic in Pablo Picasso.

 

 

"Aafchen See" goes back to the Swiss period for its inspiration. The Communists tried to persuade Chang to return to the mainland. He refused because "there is no freedom there"