Tags: art | Ni Jiang-Huai | painting

Ni Jiang-Huai (1894–1943), 1936

Watercolor painting, 46.5 x 64 cm

Born in Gongguan, Taipei, Ni Jiang-Huai learned Chinese writing with his father while they resided in the neighborhood of Shifenliao, Reifan. Ni was a student of Ishikawa Kinichiro and encouraged and promoted the fine arts education in Taiwan. Not only was he an avid founder of Seven-Star Art Forum, Taiwan Painting Research Institute and Crimson Island Association, he was also a great supporter of exhibitions and fellow painters. He even purchased art pieces using his own money to facilitate the establishment of art galleries. Ni fell ill and died, unfortunately, while still in his prime. Picturesque Tamsui is a common subject for many painters. Tamsui Landscape is Ni's 1936 work, done at the age of 42. The bird's eye view shows a white path stretching directly ahead, disappearing upon a turn to the houses on the right, and eventually meeting the church. In the background, painted in both cold and warm colors, is Tamsui River. The technique exemplifies the painter's creativity and presents us with a different face of Tamsui. Ni is one of the first watercolor painters in early Taiwan. In fact, the earliest watercolor painting that can be found in Taiwan so far was done by Ni. Ni's footsteps were all over Keelung (the Rainy Harbor), Reifan and Taipei; as a result, the major themes of his painting after the 1920s include the rain in Keelung, church in Tamsui, coal mine in Reifan, and old streets of Dadaochen.

Department of Graphic Communications and Digital Publishing, Shih Hsin University Digital archiving project of the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines

Original Chinese text is composed by Professor Cheng-Ming Su, Department of Visual Arts, Taipei Municipal University of Education