At the beginning of this year, in the ex-hibition "In Praise of Women" held at the National Palace Museum, there were 97 high-quality works of Western painting and sculpture, mainly from the peak period of neo-classical realism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The scale of the exhibit and the number of visitors were no less than for the immensely popular special showing of works from the Louvre held at the same location three years ago.

When the Chi Mei Museum won the bidding for The Message by the British painter Thomas Cooper-Gotch, it caused the international arts community to sit up and take notice of Taiwan's ability to collect art. （courtesy of the Chi Mei Museum）

But there was a big difference: All of the works in the Louvre exhibit were on loan from France, and were quickly whisked away back home. But the Western works in this year's exhibit all have their home in Taiwan, and people can see them whenever they want.

Chi Mei's collection of Western art is the largest in private hands in Taiwan.

The storehouse for these treasures is the Chi Mei Museum in Tainan.

Agriculture is the main industry in Jente Rural Township in Tainan County. It has broad open fields, and the Taiwan Sugar Corporation cultivates large areas of cane for sugar manufacturing. The Chi Mei museum is ensconced in these green surroundings.

Chi Mei looks like an ordinary office building. But on the broad jade-green front lawn stand several large marble sculptures, which reveal its artistic content. Frequently the place is packed with visitors, "as busy as a department store holding its anniversary sale!" says Amy Lin of the Chi Mei Culture Foundation.

The Chi Mei Museum is ordinarily only open to the public on weekends, though on other days it accepts schoolchildren or other organized groups by appointment. Since opening its exhibits to the public in 1992, it has attracted more than 100,000 visitors per year.

An arts landmark for southern Taiwan

"The Chi Mei Museum is still in the development stage. Right now, because of public demand, we have part of the collection on display, but it takes up only the fifth and sixth floors of the building," says Pan Yuan-shih, executive director of the Chi Mei Culture Foundation. The museum currently has 2000-plus square meters of display area, while less than one-third of the collection is on exhibit.

The Chi Mei Museum charges no fees of any kind and even provides free guides. Even with these advantages, it is still very rare for a local museum that does no advertising or promotion to achieve such fame.

"The stuff inside is really fascinating!" says a taxi driver who has twice brought his family to the museum. He especially recommends a portrait of the Austrian Duke Albert: "His right foot moves! When I stand to the right, it is pointing right at me, and when I move to the left, it comes around and still points at me. It's really amazing!"

King Solomon's treasures

The fun of Chi Mei lies in the diversity of its collection and the relaxed, approachable way in which it is displayed.

The museum is divided into six sections: Western art, musical instruments, ancient cultural artifacts, weapons, natural history, and products of the Chi Mei Corporation. Entering the museum is as dazzling as discovering King Solomon's treasure house: Here there is a giant painting, marble sculpture, player piano, or rare violin, while over there is a suit of armor, a cannon, a terra cotta statue, an image of the Buddha, or a stuffed wild animal. . . . You never get tired of the place.

Chi Mei's collection has been called the largest in private hands in Taiwan. The museum belongs to the Chi Mei Culture Foundation, which was founded in 1977 by W.L. Shi, chairman of the Chi Mei Corporation, a petrochemicals outfit that is one of the biggest profit makers in Taiwan. A lover of art and music, each year he allocates ten percent of the corporation's pre-tax surplus-equivalent to NT$250 million-to the museum to purchase objets d'art.

Because of the enormous financial investment, Chi Mei, which was always a quiet collector, has begun to make waves in international arts circles, showing people that Taiwan has real ability to invest in art collecting. In 1990, there was quite a stir in the UK when it was discovered that Chi Mei-a hitherto unheard of corporation in Taiwan-was the purchaser of the work Message, by Thomas Cooper-Gotch, who is regarded as a "national treasure" in Britain. Later, when former British Prime Minister Thatcher came to Taiwan, she specially asked the ROC foreign minister about Chi Mei.

Chi Mei has purchased many ancient weapons from private collectors in France, a policy that has attracted attention from the French media. A report appeared declaring, "Taiwan not only is capable of buying modern French weaponry like Mirage fighters and Lafayette frigates, it also knows how appreciate ancient French weaponry."

Five years ago, W.L. Shi heard that a museum in Arizona in the US which specialized in collecting stuffed mammal and bird specimens was going to close. He immediately sent someone to purchase the museum's entire collection and ship it to Taiwan.

"We have hired over a dozen experts in the US, UK, and Belgium to act as buyers for us," says Pan Yuan-shih. Because private businesses can use their assets flexibly (compared to government museums), there is no need to get stuck in purchasing procedures. They buy from international auctions, private collectors, and other museums.

Praying with bells ringing

Besides providing the large financial backing, Shi is also behind the great diversity of the museum collection.

He spent his youth during the Japanese occupation period in Taiwan, and in primary and middle school received Japanese-style compulsory education, sparking his interest in art and music. He often recalls one particular incident that inspired him. It was back in the second grade, and the teacher was showing the class a slide of Jean Francois Millet's The Angelus. Pointing to the far-off church in the background of the painting and to the farmers and their wives praying in the fields after having finished their work for the day, the teacher asked his students: "Can you hear the sound of the church bells?" This opened up the world of art appreciation to Shi, teaching him how a two-dimensional image could evoke the voice of the soul.

When he was young, his family was poor and he had no money to buy art. He could only peruse art publications, cutting out the pictures that he liked best. After his business prospered, he established the foundation to collect works of art. He frequently decided what to buy from these pictures, asking overseas experts to trace these works and purchase the originals for him.

This is how Shi acquired Baigneuse by Henri LeBasque. He saw it in a publication, and was entranced with it; he cut out the picture and put it under the glass top of his office desk. He asked people to check around for him, and after years of hoping, finally got news that the original was up for sale at an auction. He immediately sent an expert to outbid other competitiors and bring the prize home. Today, say volunteers at the museum, the chairman still spends more time in front of this picture than any other item.

Famous violins

Shi played the violin in middle school, and music became another of his loves, also sparking his great interest in musical instruments. In 1990, when the Chinese violinist Lin Chao-liang wanted to get a new violin, the Chi Mei Foundation bought the Stradivarius Chao had owned, thus beginning Chi Mei's instrument collection.

Today Chi Mei has 23 violins by renowned violin-makers, and often lends them to performers in Taiwan and abroad.

Though the violins may be famous and expensive, visitors usually find the automated instruments of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, on display at the entrance to the sixth floor, more interesting. When a volunteer demonstrates and explains the instruments, cranking the hand-powered gramophone, and starting up the player piano or the motor-driven "orchestra," this old technology still proves capable of producing precise and beautiful melodies, leaving both adults and children amazed and struck with admiration for the artistic genius of our forebears.

Verifying textbook pictures

Other parts of the collection, such as ancient artifacts, weapons of war, and stuffed animals, were acquired for their educational value in helping people understand the ancient past, the history of warfare, and nature.

"In the fossils room, virtually every piece was collected based on the biology and chemistry textbooks used in middle and high schools, so that students can verify what they see in their textbooks with actual samples," says Pan.

The most outstanding are the stuffed animals. In the last few years, to fill out the collection of the natural history section, Chi Mei has collected numerous examples of large wild animals. They have even sent special expeditions to the native places of some animals to collect specimens or skins for display. Among them are species protected under the CITES Convention, which have been exported from their home countries and brought into Taiwan with the permission of the governments involved, and which are made available to local scholars and educators. You can see an elephant, rhino, giraffe, and even a polar bear.

With its ever-growing animal collection, in 1997 Chi Mei opened a separate natural history museum, housed in a renovated former factory.

Based on the principles of keeping its collection accessible to the broad public and not something far removed from daily life, though Chi Mei has invested large sums of money, it does not go after the incredibly expensive works of the most sought-after artists, like Van Gogh or Monet. "The prices of these 'name brand' works have been driven up by speculation," says Shi. He also is "allergic" to abstract modern art. He feels that these artists merely want to express their individuality by doing something strange and different, but without putting in any real effort in terms of content or technique, so that they cannot find resonance with the broad public.

Popular, but unprofessional

Though crowds of people flock to Chi Mei, some experts feel that there's something lacking. "Though the collection is large, it is not systematically organized or researched. While it is fun for visitors, they can't learn much," says Chang Yui-tan, professor in the Graduate Institute of Museology at the National Tainan Academy of the Arts. For example, old artifacts are mixed together haphazardly without regard to chronological sequence, so it is hard to determine their evolution over time. The armaments collection, meanwhile, has both Chinese and foreign weapons, making up a "m瘭嶪."

These problems are connected to the lack of space and of researchers at the Chi Mei Museum. "In 1990 the foundation created a 'preparatory office for the arts materials library,' and began to plan the founding of an independent building to house the Chi Mei Museum, to be completed within 15 years, with a budget of NT$1.5 billion. But it has proven hard to find an appropriate site," says Pan Yuan-shih.

They discussed cooperating with Taiwan Sugar (a state-run enterprise), which has lots of land, and also hoped the government might come forward to provide the land. W.L. Shi says that if the government provides the land, Chi Mei will provide the entire collection.

"Nobody knows how long the Chi Mei Corporation will be in business, but the museum must be a sustainable operation," Shi states. The museum is operated through a foundation so that, if the company ever ceases to operate, the museum can still exist as a public asset for people to enjoy.

Eternally local

Though he does not see the museum as private property, the Tainan-born Shi hopes that it will stay "local." "Fifty years ago, though Tainan had less than 200,000 people, there was an art museum and also a product exhibition hall. Today, Tainan, which claims to be 'a venerable center of culture,' has more than 700,000 people, but not one decent art museum."

The desire to put the museum on a "sustainable" footing has caused Chi Mei to work hard to solve the problem of a shortage of researchers. They found an opportunity during recent cooperative efforts with the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts and the National Palace Museum. Says Chi Mei's Amy Lin, "When their scholars selected works from our collection, they helped us do research and write and edit a catalogue." The museum welcomes professors and students from relevant university departments and graduate schools to do studies at the museum.

The reputation of the Chi Mei Museum comes from its rich collection. But its spirit of corporate support for the arts and culture is also deserving of a reputation in its own right.

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When the Chi Mei Museum won the bidding for The Message by the British painter Thomas Cooper-Gotch, it caused the international arts community to sit up and take notice of Taiwan's ability to collect art. (courtesy of the Chi Mei Museum)

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Chi Mei's collection of Western art is the largest in private hands in Taiwan.

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Chi Mei chairman W.L. Shi sees superior violins as works of art worthy of collection, but he also doesn't mind lending them to performers in Taiwan or overseas.

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The dazzling mix of weapons and old artifacts makes the Chi Mei Museum look more like a "treasure trove."

Chi Mei chairman W.L. Shi sees superior violins as works of art worthy of collection, but he also doesn't mind lending them to performers in Taiwan or overseas.

The dazzling mix of weapons and old artifacts makes the Chi Mei Museum look more like a "treasure trove.".