People had been waiting in eager anticipation when Taipei's new Museum of Modern Art finally opened it doors to the public in late December last year.

Visitors had come from all around the world to witness the opening of the largest fine arts museum in the Far East, as well as to view the ten scheduled opening exhibitions, which included a selection of international prints and the works of overseas and local Chinese artists.

Perhaps even more excited than residents of Taipei were the artists themselves, who were especially gratified to have such a spacious and majestic museum both to inspire and to spur them on to greater achievements.

The new director of the museum, Li Jui-ping, commented: "In recent years, the number of artists actively working in Taiwan has burgeoned tremendously, and the art galleries themselves have experienced a similar growth in numbers."

Nonetheless, the art world still lacked a motivating force capable of promoting artistic and cultural endeavor in Taiwan. The reason for this is that no organization--not even the art galleries, with their more limited scope--had ever been capable of bringing together artists and answering their need for a congenial place in which to show their works.

Furthermore, the genesis for the idea of this museum lay in that there had not been any attempt at a complete, systematic collecting of post-Ching dynasty Chinese art in modern Chinese history.

Both the world-renowned National Palace Museum on the outskirts of Taipei and the Museum of History contain art treasures which reflect the past glory of four thousand years of Chinese civilization--from the Shang dynasty up to the Ching dynasty (early twentieth century).

In order to answer these needs, in 1976 the government of the Republic of China decided to launch a program of cultural construction. Part of the plans included a new museum. Not only would it serve artists, it would also help to raise the cultural awareness of the public.

The government appointed a steering committee, whose members included artists and those closely associated with the art world, to oversee its building. Construction began in 1980 under the mayoralty of Li Teng-hui. At the beginning of 1983, the exterior of the building was completed. Mayor Li appointed Su Jui-ping, then department head of Information Services at the National Palace Museum, as director. Miss Su supervised the furnishing of the galleries as well as the installation of the opening exhibits.

The building itself was designed by noted architect Kao Er-p'an. According to him, "At the beginning of the project, many people felt that the building should reflect the spirit of traditional Chinese architecture.

"I was convinced, however, that it is not just a building's facade--in this case, flying eaves, glazed-tile roofs, traditional archways, and so on--that counts. I came up with the idea to construct a building with a geometric, Western-style simplicity on the outside but whose interior concept was based on the traditional four-sided Chinese courtyard.

The advantages include a symmetry which allows for one continuous corridor running along the four sides. This is ideally suited for exhibition viewing. The large central hall gives the visitor, upon entering the museum, a sense of wide, open space, which is in keeping with the spirit of the museum. The projecting wings with their natural lighting on the second and third floors can be used as galleries for special exhibits.

Museum Director Su Jui-ping sees the role of the museum, in addition to its traditional functions--organizing exhibits, collecting significant works of art, and so on--as multi-faceted: she hopes that it will play an important role in promoting the public's cultural awareness of modern art and serve as a bridge between the art worlds in the East and West.

With respect to organizing exhibitions, the museum sees its role as providing a spotlight on recent achievements of Chinese artists. To support this undertaking, the museum has asked the staffs of several universities in the Republic of China to help prepare background information on the artists whose works are on exhibition, as well as to edit a museum journal and catalogs for the various exhibitions.

The museum's committee on purchasing is composed of art critics, art historians, and art collectors, as well as art dealers. It must make extremely prudent choices of which works of art to buy in order to ensure that these choices are consonant with the overall goals of the museum. Furthermore, the acquisition of new works of art will not be wholly dependent on the museum's budget: the museum will actively solicit patrons in the civic and business communities, as well as encourage donations of works of art by artists themselves.

The museum's promotions department will be in charge of organizing classes, lectures, and educational materials such as filmstrips and slides on the artists and their shows.

Miss Su hopes to be able to initiate reciprocal exchange arrangements with noted museums in the West as a way of keeping in close touch with international trends as well as introducing promising Chinese artists to the West.

A professor of fine arts at the National Art Institute, Ho Huai-shuo, explained that in order for the museum to build a reputation, it must "start small," with careful selection and attention paid to quality rather than sheer quantity. For example, the museum did not have sufficient funds to acquire all the works of the recently deceased artist Li Mei-shu. His family, however, decided to donate examples of his best later works to the museum--which more than counterbalanced their relatively small number.

One additional responsibility the museum has is to encourage the younger generation of artists who are often neglected and/or overlooked. An "experimental" gallery has thus been set up for these "undiscovered" artists whose works are featured individually or as part of a group show.

A few problems confronted the museum upon its opening. For one, some visitors commented that the presence of signs clearly identifying the artist, providing background information on him, and directing visitors to certain exhibitions would have been helpful.

Artist Huang Tsai-lung suggests that the museum provide a collection of historical/critical resources on, for example, art since the founding of the Republic of China up to the present, modern art movements in the twentieth century, art in Taiwan since 1949, and the different art societies which existed between the time of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan until the island's retrocession to the Republic of China in order to get a clearer idea of which artists can be said to truly represent a given epoch.

"The economic, social, and educational achievements," he says, "of the past thirty years in the Republic of China, cannot be denied. But in the area of modern arts, we have been weak. But at the same time, we cannot be expected to spring into the ranks of the world's leading modern art museums in a short time. But we must start soon, and I say 'better now than ten or twenty years down the line.'

"Also, with space not fully utilized, we can organize classes for children as well as interested adults in pottery, embroidery, painting and other crafts. So long as we do this, while at the some time concentrating on building up a collection of representative works of modern art, we will have fulfilled our responsibility to 'introduce culture' to all corners of our country," he adds.

(Denny Chiu)

[Picture Caption]

The museum building is reflected in a large metal sculpture outside.

The museum opened with ten exhibitions, including an exhibition of paintings by local Chinese artists (upper Left). Top, One of the sculptures on exhibit, entitled "Greeting Relatives." Bottom left, Another shot of the museum building, which is the largest such museum in the Far East.

1. An exhibition of the late artist Hsi Te-chin's works. 2. An exhibition of the late artist Li Mei-shu's works. 3. Works of sculpture are on display in special courtyards with overhead, square-tube roof beams. 4. An exhibition of works by Overseas Chinese artists.

Bottom, The interior of the museum is both spacious and well-lit--designed with the comfort of visitors in mind. Right, The eagerly anticipated opening of the museum was an exciting event for those who attended it.

The museum opened with ten exhibitions, including an exhibition of paintings by local Chinese artists （upper Left）

Bottom left, Another shot of the museum building, which is the largest such museum in the Far East.

Top, One of the sculptures on exhibit, entitled "Greeting Relatives.".

1. An exhibition of the late artist Hsi Te-chin's works.

2. An exhibition of the late artist Li Mei-shu's works.

3. Works of sculpture are on display in special courtyards with overhead, square-tube roof beams.

4. An exhibition of works by Overseas Chinese artists.

Bottom, The interior of the museum is both spacious and well-lit--designed with the comfort of visitors in mind.

Right, The eagerly anticipated opening of the museum was an exciting event for those who attended it.