Not everybody in Taiwan or in other places has heard the names "Orient Painting Association" on "May Painting Association." But these two groups were the first to raise the banner of modern art in Taiwan and to sow the seeds of modern painting in China. And this year, some twenty artists have joined in an exhibition commemorating the works of the May and Orient Associations.

The associations came about in the following way. In the early summer of 1956, four graduates of the Department of Arts of National Taiwan University - Liu Kuo-sung, Kuo Tung-jung, Lee Fang-chih, and Kuo Yu-lun held a four man exhibition. Afterwards they decided to set up a painting association to exchange their insights and to hold an exhibition every May. The name "May Painting Association" thus attached itself to them. In November of the same year, eight other painters set up the "Orient Painting Association," with plans to hold an annual exhibition each November.

While both these associations were interested in developing modern art, they were different in their approaches. The "May" people wanted to express modern ideology and concepts through traditional Chinese brush paintings, while the "Orient" group was more interested in western techniques of modern art. Both of them shared the objective of creating a modern art that was deeply Chinese.

It is hard to remember at this distance how much opposition to modern art there was in Taiwan twenty-five years ago. The Taiwan Provincial Art Association had been formed during the Japanese occupation, as had a second school, called the Taiyang school. Both of these groups were conservative, having learned their art mostly from Japanese models. More than conservative, they were so self-centered that they ostracized any painting that did not follow their lead. The avant-garde painters of May and Orient could expect little public support while the old guard controlled art on the island. To break through, the new artists, mostly young men in their twenties', had to pool their resources to get any public showings at all.

The new painters also had to struggle against public indifference, even hostility, to their work. Generally the newspapers were against them, and a lot of people went to their exhibitions only to scoff. A few more far-seeing people appreciated what they were trying to do, and such people as Chang Lung-yen, Yu Chun-chih and the modern poets Yu Kuang-chung, Chi Hsuan, and Chi Ko often wrote articles in their support. Eventually a hot little journalistic war sprang up around their work, a circumstance which helped them to become more known.

At the time of the inception of the May and Orient Painting Associations, there were no real galleries in Taipei. Exhibitions by older-style painters were usually held at Taipei City Hall, the Press Building, or at the National Museum of History. It was not until the early 1960's that such galleries as Chupaopen and Lingyun began to appear on Chungshan North Road and on Nungan Street near the former American Military Assistance Group Headquarters. In fact, the first major sponsors of these galleries were foreigners. As local people became more interested, the art gallery locations began to shift to Chunghsiao East Road and to rely on local backing for their success.

The May and Orient Associations withered after a few years. Orient ceased to exist as an active organization in 1971, and May the year after. Many of the original artists in those groups went abroad to follow their careers. As new painters came along, they felt no compulsion to join the earlier groups. Art galleries had mushroomed all over the city, and painters could exist without joining any painting association. Painters became objects of favorable attention in the media, and sponsors were plenty. Why join an association? Artists, left to themselves, are not naturally joiners. They are too individualistic.

Yet those painters who went abroad never forgot their roots or lost interest in the tendency and development of art in Taiwan. Over the years, many of them contributed articles to local journals or held exhibitions in this country to stir local interest. Finally, this year, a total of twenty artists joined in an exhibition to celebrate the work of the May and Orient Associations. The wheel had come full circle. From initial eagerness to break the barriers of the past, to a falling away from the associations as success came to the individuals who composed them, to the nostalgic exhibition held this year in Taipei, the early forerunners of modern art in Taiwan showed that despite changing circumstances, they still hold a deep interest in remembering the past and encouraging young artists towards the future.

[Picture Caption]

1. Chung Che's "Ma Yuan's allegory" 2. Wu Hao's "Three People" 3. Kuo Yu-lun's oil painting ""remoteness"

1. Hsiao Chin's brush painting on cloth. 2. Liu Kuo-sung's splash painting. 3. Hsieh Li-fa's oil painting "from beginning to end." 4. Lee Shi-chi's oil painting. 5. Hsia Yan's oil painting "Streets of New York."

Above: Tommy Chen's acrylic painting. Left: Han Hsiang-ning's oil painting "parking lot on the roof.''

2. Wu Hao's "Three People".

3. Kuo Yu-lun's oil painting ""remoteness".

Hsiao Chin's brush painting on cloth.

Liu Kuo-sung's splash painting.

Hsieh Li-fa's oil painting "from beginning to end.".

Lee Shi-chi's oil painting.

Hsia Yan's oil painting "Streets of New York." 　Above: Tommy Chen's acrylic painting.

Tommy Chen's acrylic painting.

Han Hsiang-ning's oil painting "parking lot on the roof.''.