Seminar commemorating Taiwan artist Shiy De-jinn staged in Taichung

2022/10/05

A seminar on Taiwan painter Shiy De-jinn held Oct. 1 in the central city of Taichung paid tribute to his contribution to the development of Taiwan contemporary art.
 
Organized by National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts with support from the Ministry of Culture, the day-long event, on what would have been his 100th birthday, focused on the humanity underpinning Shiy’s signature work.
 
During his opening remarks, NTMFA Deputy Director Wang Chia-cheng said Shiy was a real maestro who transcended his era. The seminar, along with a touring exhibition around the country last year, aims to introduce Shiy to a wider audience and celebrate his achievements, he added.
 
According to the MOC, the event featured speeches by Taiwan architect scholar Li Chien-lang and photographer Lin Bo-liang, who discussed spatial and visual aesthetics unique to Shiy’s paintings. They also shared their personal experience of working with Shiy.
 
Several research papers were presented to shed light on the late artist’s legacy and how he inspired Taiwan’s cultural development post-World War II, the ministry added.
 
Born in 1923 in China’s Sichuan Province, Shiy graduated from Hangzhou National Art Academy before moving to Taiwan in 1948, and briefly taught in the southern county of Chiayi.
 
Shiy was invited to visit the United States and France during the 1960s, and the experience could be seen in his later works, which showed Western influence mixed with traditional Chinese painting.
 
He was a strong advocate for preserving Taiwan’s cultural assets such as the Lin An Tai Historical House and Museum in Taipei City and the Lin Family Mansion and Garden in New Taipei City. Shiy died in 1981 in Taiwan at the age of 58. 


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)