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United in Art— Artist Groups and Their Network of Activities during the Japanese Colonial Period

Publication date: 29 Jun 2021
Author: Jao Tsu-hsien |Staff member of the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

A digital collection of archival documents has been in development over the recent years under the auspices of the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica. It includes the profiles of such artists from the preceding generations as Chen Cheng-Po, Yen Hsuei-Long, Chen Chih-Chi, Pu Tian-Sheng, Liu Chi-Hsiang, Kuo Hsueh-Hu in addition to papers of the nature of cultural patronage from Yang Zhao-Jia as well as private collections of works of calligraphy and painting and other historical materials. This article focuses on the activities of important artist groups that Taiwanese painters helped to create during the first half of the 20th century. Through selected private manuscripts, letters and documents, images, newspapers and magazines housed in the Archives, the exploration of interactions between various parties in the history of modern art - including individual artists, the painting groups and their patrons - reveals how the arts and society developing in parallel and prospering in unison!

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I. Lin’s Footsteps in the United Kingdom

Lin Xian-tang arrived in London on June 27 and started to visit places near London. On July 23, he went to London Zoo seeing many animals that he rarely saw, such as apes, parrots, insects, qilins and rhinos. What impressed him the most was that lions and tigers in one cage could live peacefully (see figure 1). On July 28, they visited the zoo again and went to see reptiles first this time. They not just saw many kinds of snakes that they had never seen before and even saw one big snake shedding its skin. They also saw many kinds of fishes like glowing eels, and other species such as birds, cats, and fur seals. In addition to seeing animals, Lin Xian-tang and his sons spent some money riding elephants and camels (see figure 2&3). Even though they ended up encountering sudden heavy rain, getting wet in the rain, and getting separated from others who went to the zoo together, they still had a memorable journey.

Figure1: The Diary of Mr. Guan-yuan on July 23, 1927.
(Source:The Diary of Mr. Guan-yuan, the digital archives of the Archives of Institution of Taiwan History)

Figure2: The Diary of Mr. Guan-yuan on July 28, 1927.
(Source:The Diary of Mr. Guan-yuan, the digital archives of the Archives of Institution of Taiwan History)

Figure3: Elephants in London Zoo in the 1920s.
(Source:Travel in a New World, the digital archives of the Archives of Institution of Taiwan History)


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