40 Years at the CanvasChen Yang-chun's Watercolor World

This year has been another good one for Chen Yang-chun. In May he traveled to Japan to take part in "The World of Chen Yang-chun," a year-long exhibit at the Museum of Asian Arts and Crafts. In addition to about 20 paintings of outdoors scenes and beautiful women, the exhibit also included clothing, teacup coasters, and various other items printed with reproductions of his works. The subject matter of his work was so varied that even Chen himself was taken aback!

Every item in the exhibit had been acquired by the museum's chairman, Hirota Hiroshi, when he was living in Taiwan. He established the museum after retiring from his job in Taiwan and moving back to Japan. Hirota organized the show without informing Chen, and only issued an invitation to the artist just before the exhibit began. It turned out to be a delightful surprise for Chen.

By pure coincidence, the Government Information Office (GIO) had selected Tokyo as the venue for its annual meeting of GIO overseas offices in the East Asian region. During the meeting, several GIO officers suggested holding more overseas exhibits of art from Taiwan, and because Chen's works were just then on exhibit in Japan, his name came up in the discussions.

According to Wang Shou-lai, director of the GIO's Department of International Information Services, "Chen's work has a distinctly Taiwanese flavor, and is very representative of our island. Chen, furthermore, is one of the leading members of the generation of watercolorists born in the 1940s and early 50s. His works sell very well, and are very popular with the general public. It occurred to us at the meeting that we could sponsor exhibits by Chen ourselves. Suddenly GIO officers from all over East Asia were wanting to get in on the act, and they were all squabbling over who would get to schedule Chen for how long."

Massive works of sculpture nestle under trees and nuzzle up next to shaded walkways.

Though mild-mannered in person, Chen is something of a maverick in Taiwan's art community. He has never been a follower of any particular school, nor has he ever taken part in joint exhibits with other artists. He simply goes quietly about his work and puts on individual exhibitions. When he exhibits overseas, he does so upon invitation after having come to the attention of collectors through articles in both specialist magazines and tourist publications. He first gained a toehold in the international arena thanks to a teaching engagement at the University of Tennessee in 1994.

Liu Chin-chuan, a scientist and an old friend of Chen's who has been in the United States for many years, recommended Chen in early 1994 to teach a short course in watercolor painting at the University of Tennessee. Chen considered the invitation a good chance to contribute to international exchange, and jumped at the opportunity. In each of the 12 sessions, Chen took brush in hand and demonstrated various painting techniques. The course was an immediate success, and the classroom was filled to capacity from the second session onward. One student enthused, "He's a savior sent to us from heaven. He brought us back from the brink of death!"

Thus began the international career of Chen Yang-chun. He was named an honorary citizen of Knoxville, Tennessee, where the University of Tennessee is located, and put on an exhibit at art museums in the local area. Then the invitations came rolling in from Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Latin America, where he put on nearly ten exhibits. The two main subjects of his works have been Taiwan scenes and beautiful women.

Chen has always shown a unique ability to capture both the form and the inner essence of his subjects, and has thus achieved a quiet, ethereal feel. The world of "truth, goodness, and beauty" that he creates stops the viewer in his tracks and forces him to take a long look. Wherever he has exhibited, his works have been enormously popular. In the process, he has introduced the face of Taiwan to people around the world while giving overseas Chinese communities something that brings them together. Small wonder, then, that some should consider him a cultural ambassador. Chen, however, states modestly, "I don't know about this 'cultural ambassador' stuff, but Taiwanese culture is very popular abroad, so we should be exposing more people to it."

（right） Chen Yang-chun doesn't accept students, but he's very generous about sharing the secrets of his success. He often accepts invitations to demonstrate his painting techniques. In executing a painting, the painter must masterfully control brushwork, colors, composition, and much more. Chen is the best known watercolorist among those born in Taiwan during the 1940s and 50s. （photo by Pu Hua-chih）

In looking back over the path that has led to his international fame in the art world, Chen feels that the keys have been experimentation, courage, persistence, hard work, and a bit of good luck

As a child he liked to doodle. He formally began studying calligraphy at age six or seven, when his father gave him a page of calligraphy to trace. Little Yang-chun was scared that he would make a mess of the original, so he wrapped it in a transparency, and then put tracing paper on top and practiced the characters day in and day out. When he was in first grade he won the prize for best calligraphy in the entire primary school, and represented his school in competitions with other schools in Yunlin County, where he also came away with top honors.

In this way, just stumbling along and picking up what he could along the way, he began to learn painting. He used to pass by a picture-frame shop every day on his way to and from school, and there was a mainlander named Wang who worked there and enjoyed painting himself. After school Chen would go straight to the shop to watch Wang paint, and couldn't tear himself away. Eventually the frame-maker asked him: "Do you want to learn painting? I could teach you." The delighted youngster bought brush and paper and painted alongside his teacher every day.

"The teacher said to paint whatever he was painting, and when we were done he would help me improve mine." Chen learned watercolors under Wang for more than a year, only stopping when he had to prepare for the high school entrance exams.

To this day Chen has never forgotten this teacher, Wang Chia-liang, and in his studio there sits a photo of the two together back in those early days. In 1989, Chen was invited to give an address sponsored by the Pei Kong Matsu Cultural Foundation, and he specially invited Teacher Wang to attend. He told the audience: "If there were no Teacher Wang, then there would be no Chen Yang-chun as he is today." Wang was moved to tears.

After graduating from high school, Yang tested into the graphic arts department of National Taiwan Academy of Art (today the National Taiwan College of Arts). But he remained mainly interested in drawing and painting. Alas, besides the drawing and painting classes at school, he had no money to get a private teacher, so he had to learn a lot of things by trial and error and find his own creative direction.

A group of strangers in business-world attire come together by chance for a brief moment on a rainy day. This is one of the many pieces in the Living World Series, which Ju Ming has been working on for the past several years.

Speaking of teachers, Chen did have some interesting encounters with renowned artists. Some of his stories are funny and sad at the same time. Once he persuaded a classmate in the fine arts department to split the cost of private painting lessons under Fu Chuan-fu. Because Fu taught a course at the academy, the fine arts student already knew what Fu had to say about painting theory. So Chen was the one who went to the teacher's home at night to learn and paint. In return, he would bring back samples of Fu's work (which were available only to students taking private lessons) for his friend to study. In this way both of them benefited. But all good things must come to an end. They ran out of money and had to give up the scheme after a month.

Though lacking the money to study with a famous teacher, Chen did not despair. He went to Kuling Street and bought old catalogues of watercolor works. Most were devoted to foreign artists. He didn't understand the foreign-language text, but he would carefully cut out the works he liked and examine them day and night. Even at bedtime, he would just lie in bed, unable to put a picture down, staring at it fixedly, studying the composition, lines, use of color, brushstrokes, sense of movement in the liquid as applied to the foundation, use of space.... Then he would struggle to figure out for himself how to do these things.

But he didn't simply copy from these works. Relying on his strong background in calligraphy, and the conceptual realms he explored studying Chinese painting with Fu Chuan-fu, he developed his own Eastern-nuanced "brush-and-ink style watercolor painting," which was a totally novel idea back then.

From the rural In One Heart （above） to the Taichi Series （right） and then Living World （upper right）, the works at the museum are a clear reflection of Ju Ming's intellectual development, with his focus gradually shifting from rural scenery, to tai ji quan, to contemporary artistic styles.

He recalls one time when the great painter Ma Pai-shui visited his studio, and saw his creative combination of Western watercolors and Chinese painting. Ma declared, "I am 20 years behind you." Chen was amazed by the remark, and even wrote an article about it.

Because Chen does not come out of a particular school, he often seeks the advice of other artists. He always thinks carefully about what they have said, and remembers every piece of advice to this day.

Besides the remark by Ma, he recalls another moment from when he was in his third year at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts. The Hai Tian Gallery was displaying two of his works, and there he ran into the great Hsi Te-chin, who had recently returned from Paris. Hsi offered only one comment: "Too Chinese." Ironically, Hsi himself later began promoting "watercolors with a Chinese character."

Another remark from a master which Chen will never forget was made to him by the doyen of Taiwan watercolorists, Lan Yin-ting. Lan was invited to attend the graduating student exhibition at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts. Chen seized the opportunity to ask the master for his opinion, and was told, "You paint better than me." He was dumbstruck, and didn't know what to make of the remark. After the exhibition he thought about it over and over. He thought that Lan was possibly just trying to be polite. But he also thought it was possible that Lan had no need to stoop to flattering a mere student, and that Lan was just being perfunctory.

As a country boy from Yunlin County, Chen painted this buffalo trading market with extraordinary detail, thus leaving a record of a rural scene that is disappearing in Taiwan.

Chen Yang-chun believes that the most important things for an artist are honesty and perseverance. An artist should be honest with himself and others, and stubborn about his art. "I decided 40 years ago when studying with Teacher Wang that I would do watercolors, and I have never changed this commitment to this day.

It's not difficult to learn the basics of watercolor painting, but to do it well or develop your own style is by no means simple. You cannot alter a watercolor once the paint is on, nor can you layer paint. While they are difficult to execute well, however, watercolors lack the spatial depth and power of oils.

Tseng Cheng-sheng, a well known theorist of art, points out that watercolor art is more immediate and emotive, and it excels at capturing the sensation of the moment. But it does not feel as full-bodied as oils, and lends itself less to intellectual reflection and textural depth. In other words, if there were a hierarchy of depth for types of the two-dimensional visual arts, says Tseng, it would be (in reverse order) sketching, drawing, watercolors, and oils.

Chen Yang-chun explains that he chose watercolors out of interest and because of his personality. "I like to just put the paint on in one bold stroke." Lan Yin-ting had an outlook that left a deep impression on Chen: "If you want to paint, then paint the best way there is. Watercolors are for painting, oils are for applying." Chen naturally opted for watercolors.

"No matter what you paint with, you can't do without basic technique," says Chen. He worked hard to master both sketching and drawing to create a sound foundation for his painting. By developing his drafting ability, Chen can now paint freely without first sketching out an outline of the composition. Also, when he goes abroad for exhibits or for travel he invariably takes his sketchbook along to do quick renderings of his surroundings. And he always hits the local bookstores to buy old postcards and related books, "to lend an ear to and understand the story this city has to tell." When he returns, he records his impressions in paintings, thereby expanding the range of his work.

to the Taichi Series.

It is not unusual for an artist to experience a number of major turning points in his or her lifetime, as did Picasso. But Chen describes his own career as a continual process of refinement and improvement, in both subject matter and technique, within a single framework. He does not waver in his commitment to the things he holds dear, like the countryside, old towns, and temples. These are the places where he grew up, played, and dreamed, and he will never tire of depicting them. Nor will he tire of depicting beautiful women in his own particular way, in which they display a fascinating combination of modernity and traditional Asian elegance.

For many years now, Chen has been at the pinnacle of mastery over materials, technique, color, and composition. Add to this the facts that his subjects are close to life, that he gives equal weight to realism and idealization of form, and that his paintings have an inspiring beauty, and you can see why his paintings are collected in Taiwan and around the world. The demand for his work has led to a rather large output as well.

But Chen is sometimes criticized by people who say his paintings are overly sentimental and prettified, and that they are decorative rather than serious works of art.

In the face of such criticism, Chen responds lightly: "The works of Bai Ruyi are easy to understand, and everyone young and old knows them, but that does not detract from their literary quality." He thinks art should be beautiful and accessible to the broad public. His works convey a happiness and warmth which is especially needed in modern industrial society, and that is the ideal role for art.

Many friends and collectors agree with Chen's aesthetic outlook. Wang Pi-hsia, the director of the Chen Yangchun Watercolor Society, which met informally for nearly a decade before being formally established last year, says that Chen is both a fine painter and a fine person. To combine these two, and bring beauty into daily life, is the highest expression of art.

Today the society has over 100 members, with all of them adding to their personal collections of Chen's works on a regular basis. In July Chen himself taught a class in drawing and painting, hoping to bring people deeper into artistic territory. Kao Shan-ching, a well-known architect who is the chairman of the Society and himself an amateur painter, has the highest praise for Chen Yang-chun's art and has acquired several Chen canvasses.

Since beginning his career as a full-time professional artist at age 24, Chen's sensitivity and commitment to beauty have opened a great road for him. It has taken him from his early period of "eking out a living," to his stage of "refinement and excellence," to the current phase, "international exchange," which has occupied the most recent decade of his life.

"Watercolor art in Taiwan combines the spiritualism of Chinese brush-and-ink painting with the realism of Western watercolors. I want to take this beauty from Taiwan all over the world." This has been an aspiration of Chen's for quite a while. It looks like he'll be kicking up dust along the road, sketchbook in hand, for a long time to come.

Chen Yang-chun was invited to teach a short watercolor course and exhibit his work at the University of Tennessee in 1994. His course was a huge hit, and the city of Knoxville made him an honorary citizen.

Since embarking upon the international art scene in the mid-1990s, Chen Yang-chun has put on numerous overseas exhibits and painted a lot of scenes from abroad. This painting shows a scene from the Ganges River in India.

and then Living World.

Chen's works are popular around the world, with collectors from 23 different countries. One of his paintings was used as the cover for the Chinese version of Reader's Digest.

The Living World Series includes many athletes in various states of motion. These paragliders are about ready to hit the ground in a work that positively shudders with a feel of dynamic action. These paragliders do much to set the active tone of the whole museum.

This giant zipper is being pulled open to expose a pond filled with lotus blossoms. The unique Zipper Series shows that Ju Jun has not been influenced at all by his father's style.

Chen Yang-chun has a very nostalgic attachment to things past. This is a picture taken long ago with his teacher, Wang Chia-liang （left）.

Juming Museum includes huge sections of open space where both artists and visitors can paint. Shown here is the work of artist-in-residence Chuang Ming-chi, which covers walls and walkways like some sort of creeping vine gone berserk!

Chen paints beautiful women with uncanny skill. With a few deft strokes of the brush, he expresses the reserved yet romantic beauty of modern East Asian women.

The design of Juming Museum lays great stress on outdoor exhibits. In many cases the sculpture and visitors almost seem to trade identities!