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In the
first summer of the twentieth century, Kuo Po-chuan
was born at a rope-making family on Da-zong St.
in Tainan. His father died when he was two. The
hardship caused by the loss of a parent made fortitude
and toughness his character. Maybe for Kuo Po-chuan
to achieve his outstanding art, God put in his
hand a script of wandering. He left home for the
north of Taiwan to study at Chinese Teacher's
College when he was sixteen. After he graduated,
he went home teaching and getting married by the
arrangement of his grandfather. However, this
kind of traditional marriage cannot settle Kuo
Po-chuan's untamed nature. Instead, he was stimulated
to exile himself.
In 1926, Kuo Po-chuan went to Japan to study
painting by himself. Two years later, he was admitted
to Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts. Then twenty-seven
years old, Kuo Po-chuan knew very well his own
interest and goal. All the loneliness and privation
in life were melted under his enthusiastic and
skilled brushwork. Being successively selected
for Taiten Exhibitions, he was even encouraged
to go firmly on his road of art. In 1937, He chose
to go to the northeast China, to continue his
lonely journey. |
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A year after, he for the time
being had his sojourn from his wandering steps
on the teaching positions at National Peking Normal
University and National Peking Art School. At
that time, all the people of the art circle in
Peking knew about the great event of Kuo Po-chuan's
exhibition every year at Lai-Jin-Yu-Xuan on Dragon
Boat Festival, where all the paintings were sold
out.
Getting acquainted with Ryuzaburo Umehara is
probably a destined turn in Kuo Po-chuan's life.
Ryuzaburo's ungoverned personality, rebellious
behavior, and original temperament matched with
the heroic ideas of Kuo Po-chuan. Furthermore,
the Chinese fashion concentrated in Peking brought
new phenomena to their art. The red and green
architecture of the palace, the quiet color and
translucent texture special to blue and white
china, and even the coloring of the paint to Chinese
brush painting paper inspired Kuo Po-chuan's rich
creativity. He successively applied Western oil
paint to Chinese paper to present an Oriental
quality and achieved a special painting language
that is uniquely his.
In 1948, after twenty-two years away from home,
Kuo Po-chuan, who had experienced a life-and-death
struggle with Kala-azar, finally missed home.
He came back Taiwan with his family during a time
of war. By chance, he received a position in the
Department of Architecture at Tainan Technical
College (now National Cheng-Kung University) to
teach sketching for another twenty-two years.
During this period, Kuo Po-chuan not only helped
the development of art in the south of Taiwan
but also began his own "Sunshine South"
period.
The sunshine and soil of Tainan endowed Kuo
Po-chuan's paintings with new life force and aspects.
He passionately employed soft red and brisk brushwork
to paint the scenery of Taiwan with fresh hues.
In the sunny ancient city, Tainan, he explored
the red brick walls and green shades at the Confucian
Temple, coconut and Flame of the Forest trees
at Chih-kan Lou; on Yang Ming Shan, he explored
the warm and glamorous spring; on Mt. Ali, he
explored loving and tender cherry blossoms. He
spread turpentine oil blended paint on Chinese
paper quickly and lively. With just one stroke,
layers of colors vividly represent the special
qualities of the objects, the arrangement of the
space, and the heat of the sun in a second, highlighting
Kuo Po-chuan's vigor and matured painting skill.
Fruit and fish were Kuo Po-chuan's favorites.
With bright color, they look so real in his paintings.
A lot of vermilion red is applied here, a red
that is like the red cake of Taiwanese folk customs.
The pottery under his brush has the color that
is so blue to be almost close to the color of
purple but not without the solemnity of blue and
white porcelain luster. And his nudes fully grasp
the features of Oriental female bodies with exaggeration
and contortion, pink and soft complexion, and
unique style that shows the artist's romantic
thought.
Studying Kuo Po-chuan's paintings not only allows
us to know the dramatic life of the artist but
also reveals to us a page of history and all its
happening in the twentieth century. It has been
a hundred years. One hundred years ago, this kid
from Tainan fulfilled his life step by step. Again
and again, he confronted new challenges and pictured
a brilliant icon that is totally his. One hundred
years later, he holds a significant position in
the art history of Taiwan. His folks in Tainan
will be so proud of him and, of course, his paintings.
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1901 |
Born in Tainan City. |
1910 |
Entered Tainan's No.2 Pubic School. |
1915 |
Tested in Taipei Language School's Teachers
Department. |
1921 |
Graduated from Taipei Language School and
returned to Tainan's No.2 Public School as
a teacher. |
1926 |
Stepped down as a teacher and traveled to
Japan to study. Entered a private studio to
learn painting. |
1927 |
Haiao Wang Temple from a Distance was chosen
for the First Taiwan Art Exhibit. |
1928 |
Tested in Tokyo Fine Art Academy's Western
Painting Department ; Became a member of the
Red Island Club. |
1929 |
Study in Tokyo Fine Arts School.
Guan Di Temple from a Distance was chosen
for the 3rd Taiwan Art Exhibit. |
1930 |
Hang Zhou view from a Distance was chosen
for the 4th Taiwan Art Exhibit. |
1933 |
Graduated from Tokyo Fine Arts School. |
1937 |
Went to China. First traveled and sketched
the Northeast. Moved to Beijing. |
1938 |
Taught at Beijing Art School and in Beijing
Normal College's Craftsmanship Department. |
1939 |
Held his first individual exhibit at Beijing's
Sun Yat-Sen Park Studio. Sketched together
with Umehara when he came to Beijing. |
1940 |
Married Chu Wan-Hua. |
1941 |
Held an exhibit at the new Fine Arts Museum
in Beijing ones a year every year hereafter. |
1942 |
Taught at Capital Art School. |
1943 |
First attempt at painting oil on paper. |
1945 |
Held individual exhibition at Shanghai's
International Hotel.
At the end of World War Two, became a professor
at National Beijing Normal University. |
1947 |
Stepped down from teaching because he contracted
black fever.Entered Beijing's Chungho Hospital
to treat his ailment. |
1948 |
In September, released from the hospital
and returned to Taiwan to Recuperate.
Held his First individual exhibit at the Sun
Yat-Sen Memorial.
Circled the island with friends and sketched. |
1949 |
Returned to Tainan where he set up permanent
residence.
Held an individual exhibit at Tainan's city
council. |
1950 |
Took a position in Tainan Provincial Engineering
Institute's Architecture Department. |
1952 |
14. June, Founded the Tainan Art Research
Committee (TARC) which he then chaired for
twenty years.
In February, held first TARC exhibition at
Tainan's Erhsin Ceremonial Hall.
In March, TARC created the Art Research Institute
located on Tainan's An P'ing Road for the
practical advancement of the fine arts. |
1954 |
Served as a judge for the National Teachers
Art Exhibition. |
1955 |
Served as a judge for the Tenth Provincial
Art Exhibition. |
1958 |
TRAC, the Tainan Rotary Club, and the Tanan
Teacher's Association sponsored his second
individual exhibition since returning to
Taiwan. |
1960 |
National History Museum held a Sixty Year
(Thirty Years Painting) retrospective ExhibitWhich
showed 100 works. |
1962 |
Held Tenth TARC Exhibition, This was the
first time it toured the island. |
1965 |
On Umehara Ryuzaburo's recommendation, was
offered a teaching position at Tokyo Art College,
but because of arthritis, could not accept. |
1966 |
Received Chinese Art Students' Association
Gold Medal and shown in their exhibition. |
1970 |
Retired from Cheng Kung University
TARC exhibition toured Taitung. |
1972 |
Served as a judge for the Sixth National
Art Exhibition. |
1974 |
January 23, died at the age of 74. |
1980 |
The posthumous exhibitions of Kuo Po-chuan
were held in Taipei and Tainan.
Po-chuan and I was published by Chu Wan-hua. |
1997 |
His family donated forty of his paintings
to Taipei Fine Art Museum. |
1998 |
Taipei Fine Art Museum hosted the exhibition
"Ryuzaburo Umehara and Kuo Po-chuan.
His family donated thirty-one of his paintings
to National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art in Taichung.
A Special exhibition, "Kuo Po-chuan -
Early Taiwan on Chinese Paper," was held
at Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei. |
2002 |
The exhibition, "The centenary of Kuo
Po-chuan - The South, the Sunshine, and Chih-kan
Lou," was held at Metaphysical Art Gallery
in Taipei.
The exhibition, "The South, the Sunshine,
and Chih-kan Lou -- Kuo Po-chuan's Portrait
of Tainan" was held at the Art Center
of National Cheng-Kung University in Tainan. |
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