A watercolor exhibition kicked off July 4 at National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei City, showcasing 102 paintings by 99 artists from Taiwan and Japan to mark the 50th anniversary of Taipei-based Taiwan Watercolor Association, according to the Ministry of Culture.
At the launch ceremony, MOC Deputy Minister Hsiao Tsung-huang said watercolors are prominent in the country’s contemporary art scene, adding TWA has played a key role in fine art’s development in Taiwan since 1970.
Introducing the exhibition, TWA Chairman Huang Chi-lung said the history of watercolor in Taiwan is closely tied to the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945). The showcase highlights this connection with artworks from both countries, he added.
Such exchanges can be seen in the works of Ishikawa Kinichiro (1871-1945), who had an outsized influence on Taiwan’s watercolorists. The Japanese painter was credited for promoting modern western art education in Taiwan and advocating for government-sponsored exhibitions.
Another highlight is work by late Taiwan artist Hong Rui-lin. After graduating from Imperial Fine Arts School in Tokyo in 1936, Hong took a permanent job at a mining company in Taiwan for 35 years, gaining fame for his depictions of local coal miners.
Other featured watercolorists include Lee Tze-fan, one of the first Taiwan artists to utilize Western techniques, and Liu Chi-wei, known for detailed paintings based on his anthropological work, as well as Japanese artists Ishii Hakutei and Miyake Kokki. (SFC-E)
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