Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 2
The Transition of the Concept of “Fine Arts”
I.
Development of the Term “Fine Arts” in the West
II.
The Term “Art” as used in China
III.
Transformation of the Term “Fine Arts” in East Asia
IV.
The Term “Fine Arts” as Formulated in Taiwan
Chapter 3
Prehistoric Art: Human’s Decoration
I.
Styles of Decorative Art
II.
Jue Earrings Excavated in Prehistoric
Sites
III.
Antique Glass Beads
IV.
Tattoos
Chapter 4
Prehistoric Archeological and Primitive Art
I.
Wanshan Petroglyph
II.
Bronze Knife Hilt
III.
Wood Carving
IV.
Characteristics of Patterns in Prehistoric and Primitive Art
Chapter 5
Material Culture Surrounding Taiwan in 17th
Century
I.
Taiwan in Sea Maps
II.
Chinese Porcelain Excavated in Penghu Islands
III.
Sales and Orders of Chinese Trade Porcelain
IV.
Trade Porcelain Excavated in Taiwan
V.
By-Product: A Historical and Geographical
Description of Formosa
Chapter 6
Between Images and Words: Genre Paintings
of Taiwan’s Aboriginal Peoples in the 18th Century
I.
Relevant Studies
II.
Genre Paintings and Illustrations of Tributaries: Relationship between Genre
Paintings and Story Paintings
III.
Different Modes of Expression in Various Editions
IV.
The Pedagogical Metaphors
Chapter 7
Joy of Painting and Calligraphy since Late
Qing Dynasty
I.
From Transshipment Port to Cultural Periphery
II.
Transmission of Central Plain Culture
III.
Visual and Graphic Joys
IV.
Variation of Calligraphy
V.
Joy of Objective Forms
VI.
Figure Paintings
VII.
Formation of East-Asian Cultural Spheres
Chapter 8
Art in the Japanese Rule (1895-1945 A.D.): Border-crossing
Art and Polyphonic Enlightenment
I.
Foreword
II.
Establishment of Art Education
III.
Artistic Atmosphere in the Taiwan
Nichinichi Shinpo
IV.
Founding of the Official Art Exhibition
V.
Border-crossing Art
VI.
Polyphonic Enlightenment
Chapter 9
Circle of Painters in the Cold War
(1950-1970): Transition of Political Views and Establishment of Cultural
Orthodox
I.
From East-Asian Sacred War to the World’s Cold War
II.
“China” as Formed via Official Art Exhibition
III.
Creation of Water and Ink in the Context of “Cultural China”
IV.
Significance of Time and Space in Traditional Literati Paintings
V.
A Dark Corner
Chapter 10
From Orthodox to Diversity: Development
after 1950s
I.
Debate of Orthodox National Painting in 1950s
II.
From Toyoga Painting to Ink Painting
III.
From Toyoga Painting to Gouache
Painting
IV.
The Rise of Nativism
V.
Return to the Purity of Forms
VI.
Re-appearance of Tradition
VII.
Female Artists and Female Issues
Chapter 11
Popularization and Commercialization of “Fine
Art”
I.
Fine Art and Life
II.
Father of Taiwan Crafts: Yen Shui-long
III.
Art Magazines
IV.
Public Venues for Exhibition
V.
A Reflection on Digitalization
Chapter 12
Between Reality and Virtuality: Development
after 1980s
I.
Foreword
II.
“Gaze” and “Discourse” in Contemporary Art
III.
Various Issues in Contemporary Art
Chapter
1
Introduction
Liquid
Subjectivity: New Perspectives on the Art History of Taiwan
While
writings on art history of Taiwan are closely intertwined with the history and
historiography of modern Taiwan, it is not merely an established facet in history
but should be regarded as a changing itinerary of artists’ searching for their
subjectivity in art. Wang Pai-yuan of the 1950s and Hsieh Li-fa of the 1970s,
influenced by their political views on history, pondered the development of
fine arts in Taiwan in response to the historical atmospheres of their own
times. Since 1980s, researches on art history focused on Taiwanese paintings
and calligraphy in public and private collections; these researches attempt to
trace the development of fine arts in Taiwan via existing works of ink and
water. The historical view of this period was based on Lian Heng’s General History of Taiwan and regarded
Chinese expatriate painters in Taiwan as the beginning point of art history in
Taiwan. In 1990s, Chou Wan-yao’s A Pictorial
History of Taiwan broke away with such Han-centered discourses on history
of Taiwan and emphasized the importance of indigenous peoples in history of
Taiwan. Afterwards, with newer publications on art history of Taiwan, the
beginning point was further traced to include prehistoric archeological sites
and indigenous arts.
Hence,
art history of Taiwan is not fixed within the domains of Han culture. As
discoveries of prehistoric material culture have shown, development of art
history reaches far more than the geographic confines of the Taiwan Island and
has seen exchanges with Austronesian peoples whose language family spans to “Taiwan
in the north, New Zealand in the south, Madagascar in the west, and Easter
Island in the east.” In this period, the subjectivity of art in Taiwan was
formed in the domain of Austronesian languages, which even led to Taiwan’s
becoming the origin of the Austronesian language family. In the 17th
century, with the advent of the Age of Discovery and the rise of Dutch East
India Company or Vereenigde Oost-Indische
Compagnie (VOC), Taiwan, as the transshipment port in East Asia, engaged in
exchanges of material culture with Euro-Asian territories. With the
transmission of Chinese Confucian thoughts to Taiwan during the Ming-Zheng and
Qing dynasties, a distinctive taste for painting and calligraphy gradually
formed in a new geo-political relationship. In late 19th century,
with the Japanese’s urge of “de-Asianization” and the ambition for a “Greater
East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere,” the development of art in Taiwan enjoyed a
brand-new perspective. In mid-20th century, Republican government
came to Taiwan and built Taiwan as a model of “Cultural China,” bringing about
further changes to the expressions of art in Taiwan.
What
is noteworthy is how historical changes of Taiwan became part of the
characteristics for the development of art in Taiwan. This lies not in how
changes of time and space influenced the development of art history in Taiwan
but in how this art history developed some kind of distinctive “liquid
subjectivity” in such changes. The key to this discourse hinges on not taking
external stimulus as the main condition for the development of art history;
instead, the emphasis is on how artists explore subjectivity for the work or
even for the self in such a liquid condition.
Furthermore,
art history of Taiwan cannot be regarded as simple reflection of art history of
the West. The mainstream Western art history, tracing its origin from the Greek
and Roman art, reflects a historical viewpoint upheld by people of certain
taste. There have already been provocative and inspiring critiques on such
particular taste, for example the discourses on the concept of “distinction” by
Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) and the critique on power and knowledge by Michel
Foucault (1926-1984). I think development of art history should not be
addressed within the confines of certain taste. Fortunately, when reflecting on
the development of art history in Taiwan, we see new opportunities for
historical studies arising from the diversity and integration inherent in the
history of Taiwan. Hence, painters without formal artistic training or folk
crafts can also be regarded as subject of study in art history of Taiwan. The
Nativist Movement of the 1970s further brought the works of amateur artists in
artistic and academic spotlight.
When
the wall separating fine arts and folk crafts fell down, the value judgment
concerning the dualistic concepts of purity/practical and elitist/popular is
seriously questioned re-examined. Hence, the act of creation returns to become
a simple practice of beauty. Expressions of such practice are highly personal.
Yet personal experiences are closely related to social mobility and power
structure. In this light, how one transforms personal experiences into visual
language and manifest subjectivity with it in such changing condition becomes
one key issue to be scrutinized in one’s study of Taiwan art history.
If
the boundary surrounding the identity of the artist is gradually blurred, the
ways in which a work is seen and its meanings are made also show the characteristics
of “multiplicity” attributed to the work by diverse viewers. This phenomenon is
a constant factor in the development of Taiwan art history. (One great example
of it was the discussion of “Orthodox National Painting” in the circles of
painters in Taiwan in 1950s.)
To
sum up, this book utilize the concept of “liquid subjectivity” to think about
the development of Taiwan art history. On the one hand, the book reflects on the
previous discourses on periphery/center, colonialism/imperialism, and
self/other; on the other hand, the book also serves as my response to the
contemporary historical world. Because today’s world is one in which “parallel”
exchange is possible, in which people freely shift between reality and
virtuality, and in which technological experience allows human beings to take
on others’ cultural lives as if putting on a “culture skin.” Hence, the key
issue for today’s study of art history lies in how to present the exploration
of self subjectivity in the liquidity of time, space, and culture.
