Search by Subject
Search by Institution
Taipei North Gate

Tags: art | Jiang Ming-Shian | painting

Jiang Ming-Shian (1942–), 1998

Ink and color painting, 50 x 83 cm

Born in Taichung County, Jiang Ming-Shian graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University. In 1974, he received his M.A. in Central Institute, Spain; two years later, he accepted the offer to teach Chinese painting at St. John's University in New York. He trotted around the globe from 1973 to 1987 doing researches, visiting places, giving speeches, holding exhibitions, and drawing sketches. Jiang painted Taipei North Gate in 1998 when he was 56 years old. The painting weaves together the histories of Taiwan by juxtaposing the old Taipei city gate, the Office of Taiwan Governor-General built during the Japanese colonization period, and modern structures such as the electric pole in the forefront. The painter fuses Western realistic techniques with Eastern ink painting, applying ink expressively and powerfully. In the last ten years or so, Jiang has produced more than 200 ink and color paintings, including this one, on the historical sites of Taiwan. Jiang enshrines Taiwan’s cultural landscape in his paintings, which tells us something about his deep feelings for Taiwanese culture.

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