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顏水龍 Yen Shui-long

Short bio Yan Shuilong 1903.06.05~1997.09.24 Birthplace / Xiaying, Tainan A native of Xiaying, Tainan, Yan Shuilong stationed in the Xiaying Public School (Xiaying Kōgakkō) after graduating from the Tainan Provincial Teachers’ Training School in 1918 . He went to Japan in 1920, and was admitted into the Western Painting Division of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts two years later. By 1927, he entered graduate school at the same institute to study under Fujishima Takeji, Okada Saburousuke, and Wada Eisaku. He returned to Taiwan in 1929 and held a solo exhibition to raise funds for further studies in Paris. By introduction, he studied under Kees Van Dongen (1877~1968) at the Académie d’Art Moderne. While studying in France, he applied for permission from the Louvre to copy famous works by artists such as Titian (1488~1576) and Ingres (1780~1867), and his work was selected into the Salon d’Automne in 1931. However, he became afflicted with hepatitis as a result of overwork and poor nutrition. In order to recover, he returned to Taiwan in October of 1932. In 1934, he and other artists, such as Chen Cheng-po, founded the Tai-Yang Art Society. Starting in 1936, Yan Shuilong devoted himself to the promotion of arts and crafts. In 1941, he and other artists, including Zhang Wanchuan and Chen Dewang, founded the Taiwan Plastic Arts Society. He also devoted himself to the pursuit of art and craft skills, such as straw basket weaving and bamboo-processing work. Over the course of his life, he taught at Taiwan Provincial Tainan Junior College of Technology (today’s National Cheng Kung University), National Taiwan Academy of Arts (today’s National Taiwan University of Arts), Private Tainan School of Home Economics, and Shih Chien School of Home Economics (today’s Shih Chien University). In addition, he also wrote the book Taiwan’s Arts and Crafts (1952). Although his focus shifted to arts and crafts, Yan Shuilong continued to produce oil paintings as well. His paintings are in a realist style, with succinctly formed objects in strong and contrasting warm colors. The dominant themes of his works include still lifes, landscapes, and figures. A series of his works with Orchid Island as their primary theme were especially famous. Yan Shuilong also worked in advertisement design. Between 1933 and 1940, he painted commercial advertisements for Osaka Smoca Tooth Powder Company. These works were later collected in a series that became a classic exemplar of Japanese advertising design in the 1930’s. Aside from his advertisement designs, Yan Shuilong left behind many mosaic works. One of the most famous mosaics was his From Agricultural to Industrial Society at Jiantan Park. His work Sunflower can also be found on the walls of the Taiyang Tang Bakery in Taichung. In addition, Yan accepted a commission to help with the beautification of Taipei City landmarks such as Zhongshan Hall and the façade of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which set a precedent for Taiwanese public art and landscape design. -- http://chenchengpo.asdc.sinica.edu.tw/friend_en 顏水龍，《從農業社會到工業社會》，1969年, 臺北市劍潭山麓劍潭公園 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yeanwaterlong.JPG Yen shui-long's Osaka Smoca Tooth Powder Company poster, 1934. 顏水龍 畫 日本齒磨スモカ廣告海報，1934年印刷。 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yen_shui-long_smoca_poster.JPG

Structured Data Yen Shuilong Yan Shuilong 顏水龍 ISNI 0000 0000 6423 8393 Painter Sculptor http://slyen.org/ Yen Shui-long (Chinese: 顏水龍; June 5, 1903 – September 24, 1997), a Taiwanese painter and sculptor. His specialty was oil painting, and yet he enjoyed making arts of all sorts: sketching, basket weaving, furniture design, mosaics, etc. Born: 1903-06-05 Xiaying, Taiwan Died: 1997-09-24 Taichung, Taiwan Nationality: Taiwanese Relations: Alumni of: Xiaying Public School Alumni of: Tainan Provincial Teachers’ Training School Alumni of: Tokyo School of Fine Arts Alumni of: Académie d’Art Moderne Member of: Official Taiwan Art Society Follows: Fujishima Takeji Follows: Okada Saburosuke Follows: Wada Eisaku Follows: Kees Van Dongen Taught at: Taiwan Provincial Tainan Junior College of Technology (today’s National Cheng Kung University) Taught at: National Taiwan Academy of Arts (today’s National Taiwan University of Arts) Taught at: Tainan School of Home Economics Taught at: Shih Chien School of Home Economics (today’s Shih Chien University) Important Roles: Author of: Taiwan’s Arts and Crafts (臺灣工藝) (book) Creator of: From Agricultural to Industrial Society (從農業社會到工業社會) (mosaics) Founder of: Taiwan Plastic Arts Society Founder of: Tai-Yang Art Society Award and recognition: His commercial advertisements for Osaka Smoca Tooth Powder Company were later collected in a series that became a classic exemplar of Japanese advertising design in the 1930’s.

Sources and references

• 莊素娥，〈純藝術的反叛者—顏水龍〉，《臺灣美術全集6‧顏水龍》，臺北市：藝術家出版社，1992，頁17-43。
  
• 涂瑛娥，《蘭嶼‧裝飾‧顏水龍》，臺北市：雄獅圖書公司，1993。
  
• 顏娟英，〈殿堂中的美術─臺灣早期現代美術與文化啟蒙〉，《中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊》64：2（1993），頁469-610。
• Starting Out from 23.5°N: Chen Cheng-po, Academia Sinica Digital Center (ASDC). http://chenchengpo.asdc.sinica.edu.tw/friend_en

 

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© Marcia Lei Zeng for Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures