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Taipei Times, Oct 28, 2005
Hwa Kang Museum opens its treasure trove of art
By Derek Lee

[image]
The Hwa Kang Museum is up Yangmingshan, Taipei, in a corner of the
Chinese Culture University campus. Established in 1971 by the
university's founder Zhang Qi-yun (張其昀), this university museum is
the first of its kind in Taiwan and functions as an educational
institute by channeling all its efforts on holding fine arts
exhibitions. This four-floor building has approximately 549m2 of
exhibition space.

The first floor gallery is open for exhibitions to both campus artists
and members of the public. The third floor is set to display pieces from
the museum's permanent collections of folk arts and Chinese ceramics.
The fourth floor exhibition area is designated for large-scale,
semester-long thematic presentations of fine arts. The museum's
permanent collection of modern and contemporary Chinese paintings and
calligraphy contains more than 4,000 masterpieces by Chinese artists.
Big-name artists include Wang Yang-ming (王陽明), Wu Chang-shuo (吳昌
碩), Yu You-ren (于右任), Pu Xin-yu (溥心畬), Zhang Da-qian (張大千),
Huang Jun-bi (黃君璧), Zhao Shao-ang (趙少昂), Ou Hao-nian (歐豪年), Li
Mei-shu (李梅樹) and Liu Qi-wei (劉其偉).

In its Chinese ceramics collection, porcelain and pottery objects are
covered through the ages, from the Neolithic Yang-shao culture to the
Ming and Qing dynasties.

The folk art and woodblock print collections range from aged furniture,
to embroidery, woodblock prints, temple and monastery art and Aboriginal
cultural artifacts. All these remarkable collections require at least a
half-day trip for serious art lovers.

Currently on the fourth floor, curator Margaret Chen (陳明湘) is putting
together a rather unusual exhibition titled Flowers-and-Birds, Ink
Paintings of Zhang Shu-qi and Wu Xue-rang (張書旂．吳學讓水墨花鳥畫展),
for the first time in Taiwan.

The late Zhang Shu-qi never set foot in Taiwan in his lifetime and is
thus unknown to the general public. Yet, his outstanding skill at
drawing pigeons has been lauded by the late Xu Bei-hong (徐悲鴻).

Born in 1900, Zhang painted the 3m x 3m Hundred Doves in 1941, when
China was being attacked by the Japanese. Applying olive trees and
azalea flowers as a background, the painting vividly depicts 100 or more
doves, each with different expressions. The painting suggests the
artist's desire for peace at a time when the clouds of war were gathering.

The painting was subsequently presented to former US president Franklin
D. Roosevelt as a gift in commemoration of his third presidential
inauguration. It was displayed in the White House and later became part
of the permanent collection of the former president's library.

Zhang was a talented landscape and birds-and-flower painter. One daring
approach that Zhang adopted was to use colored Chinese painting papers,
instead of normal white ones, for many of his works done in the US.

"He developed a preference for using powdered lead white and red pigment
on colored paper. His colors thus became extremely eye-catching,"
Margaret Chen said. Fang Yi-min (方亦民), widow of Zhang Shu-qi, donated
40 of her late husband's works to the university in 1969, after Zhang
passed away in 1957.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/10/28/2003277758

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Korea Times, 10-28-2005
Korea's National Museum Reopens at New Home

[image] Visitors to the National Museum of Korea look at exhibits in the
museum’s new venue that opened in downtown Seoul Friday. /Yonhap

SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's national museum Friday reopened at its
new home in Yongsan, downtown Seoul, eight years after construction
began in October 1997.

The National Museum of Korea, Asia's largest museum and the
sixth-largest in the world in terms of space, has 11,000 Korean and
Asian artifacts on display for a closer look at the region's history.

It is the first time for the National Museum of Korea to have a a
permanent home, having moved six times since it was established in 1945.

"The national museum is a representation of Korea but never had its own
home. We are very proud to present this new edifice for the very first
time," said Lee Kun-moo, director of the museum, said in a recent interview.

The opening ceremony was held Friday morning, attended by hundreds of
political and cultural dignitaries from home and abroad.

Visitors were to be allowed in for free, starting Friday afternoon. As
part of the celebratory events, Korea's nonverbal percussion
performance, Nanta, and other shows were to follow in the evening.

The museum stands on 307,227 square meters of land in the central
district of Seoul, featuring a main building and extensive gardens and
indigenous plants. The museum building is 424 meters long and has six
floors above the ground, with its oblong design based on the walls of
Korea's ancient fortresses. The construction took eight years.

The museum accommodates permanent exhibitions in its first three floors
- Archaeological Gallery and Historical Gallery on the first floor; Fine
Arts Gallery I and Donation Gallery on the second floor; Fine Arts
Gallery II and Asian Arts Gallery on the third floor.

Each floor has a " Path of History," a passageway that divides the two
galleries and have large artifacts like statues. The fourth to sixth
floors are for temporary exhibitions.

The museum owns 150,000 artifacts in total, and 11,000 of them are now
on display. In addition, the museum employs cutting-edge technology. A
digital navigation system guides visitors through the museum, and mobile
gadgets like MP3 players and PDPs help visitors explore their preferred
courses and get information about the artifacts.

Also, every artifact has its own automatic information system, which
operates when visitors arrive.

The museum first opened in a hall of Gyeongbok Palace in the winter of
1945, shortly after Korea regained its sovereignty from Japanese
colonial rule. But it never had a permanent home, moving from one palace
to another.

The idea for a permanent home came in 1993 under the administration of
Kim Youngsam. After years of consideration, the government started
construction in the Yongsan district, where a helicopter pad for U.S.
troops had been located. Admission to the museum will be free until the
end of this year.

From January, the entrance fee for adults will be 2,000 won ($1.90) and
free for children aged under six and the elderly older than 65.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200510/kt2005102819420511710.htm

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China Post, 2005/10/22
Liu Kuo-sung holds modern ink painting art exhibition
By Hsuan Chung-wen

The Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, is presenting
Prof. Liu Kuo-sung's modern ink painting art exhibition to observe the
77th anniversary of the institute.

The exhibition opened Friday and will be on until Nov. 20 at the art
gallery of the institute in Nankang, Taipei, under the title: "A man of
the East, West, South, and North -- Prof. Liu Kuo-sung's modern Ink
Painting Exhibition."

Prof. Liu initiated the modern ink painting movement in the 1950s, and
he has continuously developed and practiced his own theories.

Through the interpretations of a modern man, he has intensified the
foundation of traditional aesthetics by absorbing suitable elements from
western abstract expressionist art, while embracing the magnificent
achievements of Chinese Sung dynasty painting. This dual approach has
produced a ink painting style that reflects the contemporary era.

Liu's unique style establish him as a major international artist, who
has produced a timely set of theories that correspond with his creative
work, thereby spreading his influence far beyond the reach of his
personal artwork.

Lu Hong, an art critic from China, noted that, from the vantage point of
subsequent historical development, Liu's main contribution has been his
courage and insight to seek fundamental changes within the insular and
dated Chinese artistic framework, using personal artistic
experimentation to innovate at a time when the shock of western artistic
influence appeared insurmountable to entrenched traditionalists.

The result is an art that adapts to the changing times and becomes
internationally accessible. Lee Chu tsing, an art history professor at
the University of Iowa, said that Liu's painting has been well received
across America. Liu's solo art exhibition in the United of States, from
Los Angeles to New York, from Minneapolis to Dallas, have all received
high praise from critics and other artists.

Prof. Liu was born in China in 1932. His father died in war against
Japan. At age 17, he came to Taiwan with the military orphan's school.
Two years later he passed the entrance examination for the fine arts
department of National Taiwan Normal University. Upon graduation, he was
hired as a lecturer in the architecture department at Chung-yuan University.

He invented a kind of rough cotton paper, called "Liu Kuo-sung paper,"
with which he creates this new painting style. From 1965 to present, he
gave numerous solo art exhibitions in Taiwan and abroad. He has also
published many essays on art theories and painting techniques.

He was visiting at professor at the State University of Wisconsin and
the University of Iowa. In 1972, he was named chairman of the art
department at Chinese University of Hong Kong. His many arts pieces were
collected by the museums in both East and West.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/detail.asp?ID=70660&GRP=h

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Asahi Shinbun, 10/21/2005
In Sight/ Arts: New museum gives Fukuoka reason to cheer

Don't cry, Fukuoka. You may have lost baseball's Pacific League
championship to Chiba, but you and the rest of Kyushu have something to
celebrate: the opening of the Kyushu National Museum on Oct. 15.

Located in the historic city of Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, the new
museum is the fourth of its kind in Japan. It's a newborn baby compared
with its siblings-the Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum and
Nara National Museum-which are all centenarians.

With Kyushu having served as a gateway for exchanges with Asia since
ancient times, the museum is designed to provide a new perspective on
Japanese culture in the context of Asian history.

An inaugural exhibition titled "Japan, Country of Beauty" is under way
through Nov. 27.

The show sheds light mainly on two periods in Japanese history during
which the country enjoyed dramatic exchanges with the outside world: the
Nara Period (710-784) and the Momoyama Period (late 16th century). Japan
learned a great deal from China and Korea during the Nara Period, while
the Momoyama Period followed Spanish missionary Francis Xavier's arrival
in Kyushu in 1549, bringing Christianity and Western culture to the country.

Among the show's 124 exhibits are seven designated National Treasures,
including a gold seal from a first-century Chinese emperor that was
unearthed on an island in what is now Fukuoka Prefecture in 1784, and
colorful 17th-century screens from what's now Nagasaki Prefecture.

Meanwhile, on display at the permanent exhibition gallery are about 800
items covering a long period of Japanese history-from the Old Stone Age
through the late 19th century. They include 16 National Treasures.

So Hawks fans, dry your tears and head to Dazaifu. Not only can you
learn about the history of Japan and Asia, but you can also pray for
better luck for the team next year at nearby Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine.

"Japan, Country of Beauty" runs through Nov. 27 at the Kyushu National
Museum in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture.

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200510210091.html

 

 

__________________

with kind regards,

Matthias Arnold
(Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.fluktor.de

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