In 2022, sensing the cooling cross-strait situation and the increasing importance of US-Taiwan relations, the America-Taiwan Cultural Artifact and Innovative Technology Research and Development Exchange Association (hereinafter referred to as the US-Taiwan Association) was established on the foundation of the Cross-Strait Cultural Antique Research and Development Association. The goal was to enable more in-depth and professional cultural heritage protection research and exchange between the US and Taiwanese private sectors and museums. At the beginning of its establishment, the US-Taiwan Association arranged for the special exhibition “Prosperous Age of Namo. Dragon Heaven’s Blessing” focused on Buddhist relics to be held at the National Taiwan Historica of Academia Historica in 2023. The exhibition included Buddhist art from the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties to the modern era, combining the collections of several renowned but low-profile collectors with affinities for Buddhism. Exhibits featured stone Buddha statues, Buddha heads, wood carvings, gilt bronze Buddhist statues, Ming Dynasty murals, and paintings by Chang Dai-Chien, alongside dragon-patterned porcelain from the Ming and Qing court, symbolizing the dragon clan’s protection of Buddhism. This grand event in southern Taiwan attracted many visitors.
President Steven Ou Yang of the America-Taiwan Cultural Artifact and Innovative Technology Research and Development Exchange Association
Due to the unprecedented success of the 2023 exhibition, this year (2024), encouraged and promoted by the National Taiwan Historica of Academia Historica, the US-Taiwan Association was specially invited again to hold another special exhibition titled “The Splendor of Brushwork: Masters and Their Inner Worlds” in early July. This exhibition strictly adhered to the association’s objectives of scientific identification and connoisseurship, analyzing each collection piece through detailed reports. The exhibition highlights the works of modern masters such as Master Hsing Yun, Qi Baishi, Chang Dai-Chien, Sanyu, and Lin Fengmian. These masters expressed their inner worlds and artistic depths through paintings and calligraphy, characterized by their bold and uninhibited styles.
Mr. Lin Feng-Mian “Treasure Lotus Lamp”
The exhibition primarily features the works of Oriental Fauvism representatives Sanyu and Lin Fengmian. Though both were influenced by Fauvism and traditional Chinese painting techniques, they developed distinctly different styles. Sanyu retained the brushwork of Oriental ink painting in his oil paintings, effectively blending Eastern and Western art forms. His use of “line” and “negative space” from ink painting is evident, and he often completed his paintings in a single stroke. This technique results in marks resembling the “dotting” and “ink accumulation” seen in ink paintings, rather than the traditional layering of oil paints. His use of paint on the brush naturally created effects of dark and light contrasts, akin to thick and light ink in ink painting. His signatures varied due to the different techniques required for oil and watercolor mediums, often combining a hand-drawn “Yu” character seal with the French signature “SAN yu.”
San Yu “Strolling on the Grassland”
Lin Fengmian, on the other hand, typically used watercolor techniques for oil paintings, applying flat color blocks first and then outlining them with bold strokes. His vigorous and elastic lines, combined with geometric shapes, created distinct opera or lady figures. His signature process involved writing the vertical strokes of “Lin” first, then the horizontal strokes, and combining the last stroke of “Lin” with the first stroke of “Feng.”
The exhibition also includes Chinese paintings and calligraphy from late Ming to modern times, featuring works by Bada Shanren, Leng Mei, Qi Baishi, Chang Dai-Chien, and Master Hsing Yun. The oil, sketch, and watercolor sections showcase works by Sanyu, Lin Fengmian, Xu Beihong, Pan Yuliang, and Wu Guanzhong. Additionally, the exhibition features Qing court treasures, including Gold-colored Field-yellow stone seals, porcelain, lacquered wood boxes, and Hainan wild agarwood ornaments, gathered from renowned collectors in Asia and internationally.
The Cross-Strait Cultural Antique Research and Development Association (hereinafter referred to as the Cross-Strait Association) was established in 2008 to promote and develop Chinese cultural antique education, connoisseurship, and identification abroad. With the easing of cross-strait relations, the association, led by President Steven Ouyang (Chien-Chung), facilitated cultural exchanges, including signing an agreement between the National Museum of History and Shenyang Palace Museum. Ouyang’s scientific identification methods were recognized by the Shenyang Palace Museum, leading to his appointment as an honorary researcher in 2010. The association’s efforts culminated in the “Great Qing Prosperity: Shenyang Palace Museum Antique Exhibition” in 2011 and subsequent exhibitions in Jiangxi Province and cooperation with the Bada Shanren Memorial Hall and the Nanchang Relic Museum for Haihun Principality of Han Dynasty.
While engaging in artifact authentication exchanges with the Shenyang Palace Museum, President Ouyang also actively fostered friendly exchanges with the Jiangxi Provincial Museum. In 2011, President Ouyang was appointed as a visiting researcher by the Jiangxi Provincial Museum. Discussions were initiated between the Cross-Strait Association and the museum regarding organizing a special exhibition at the museum. After multiple discussions between the chairman of the Cross-Strait Association and the museum, it was finally decided to hold the “Elegant Jade and Stones Special Exhibition” at the Jiangxi Provincial Museum in the fall of 2013.
During the negotiation process, the museum recognized Chairman Ouyang’s professionalism and enthusiasm for promoting cultural relic exhibitions. As a result, Chairman Ouyang was appointed as a consultant for the promotion of external cultural relic exhibitions and as a visiting researcher by the museum.
Through artifact authentication exchanges with the Jiangxi Provincial Museum, President Ouyang also facilitated the Cross-Strait Association to sign a “Business Exchange Cooperation Intention Agreement” with the Nanchang Bada Shanren Memorial Museum in the autumn of 2013. In 2017, they further signed an “Exhibition Intention Agreement,” which was subsequently re-signed in a more detailed form to deepen the exchange between the Cross-Strait Association and the Bada Shanren Memorial Museum.
In addition to collaborations with the Jiangxi Provincial Museum and the Bada Shanren Memorial Museum, President Ouyang was also specially appointed as the international curator by the Nanchang Han Dynasty Haihunhou State Museum. Discovered in 2011, the Haihunhou State Site in Nanchang from the Han Dynasty is currently China’s largest, best-preserved, most complete, and well-structured noble city settlement site with a clear functional layout and complete sacrificial system. In 2018, Chairman Ouyang’s appointment as the international curator for the Nanchang Relic Museum for Haihun Principality of Han Dynasty was indeed a great honor.
The US-Taiwan Association and the Cross-Strait Association leverages the strength of private organizations to showcase Taiwan’s high-level cultural and artistic realms to the international museum and cultural relics art collection communities.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/skgtrQ2Ga7k
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