Ju Ming's WorksJu Ming, original named as Ju Chuan-tai, was born in 1938, in the small town Tongxiao (Miaoli County, Taiwan). At the age of 15, Ju Ming became an apprentice to the famous local artisan Lee Chin-chuan, and he was trained as a traditional Chinese wood-carver at the first time. After Ju completed the apprenticeship, he soon created a successful crafts business. However, Ju Ming was eager to develop further as a sculptor, a true artist. As a result, at the age 30, Ju Ming strived to be a pupil of the renowned sculptor Yuyu Yang, and started his pursuit of art.
Other ArtistsIn addition to the works of Ju Ming, Juming Museum Collection features works by Juming's two teachers, Lee Jing-chuan and Yang Yin-feng, also Buffet, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Milo, Liao Ji-chun, Kuo Po-chuan, Yang Shan-liang, Hung Jui-lin and other artists.
Size: 32 x 28 cm Period: 1970 Material: Oil on paper
Kuo Po-chuan, was born in Tainan, 1901. His father died while Kuo was only a two-month-old baby, so his mother brought him up alone. He went to Japan to study at the age of twenty-six. At first, he planned to study law, but because of the political environment, he changed his mind to study painting. After passing the entrance examination, which he had failed twice, he studied with Okade Subrosuke at the Western Painting Division of Tokyo Fine Arts School. At the age of thirty- three, he graduated fifth in his class.
In 1937, he went to Mainland China, and resided in Peiping for twelve years. This period of communicating with the elite of the city was the turning point in the artist's painting career. The former capital's scenes and the atmosphere of vast land with rich natural resources stimulated him to examine traditional contents of art. Furthermore, his close friend, a Japanese painter, Ryuzaburo Umehara, whom the artist esteemed most, and often accompanied him on painting excursions when he was in Peiping. Kuo went back to Taiwan to recuperate his health in 1948 and resided in Tainan thereafter. He had taught fine arts at Architecture Department of National Cheng Kung University for twenty years.
Lee Cher-fan, a native of Hsinchu in downtown Wuchang Street. He grew up in a frugal childhood, and knew too well how he must make something of himself, and the results were his diligence and unpretentiousness. This had a profound effect to his later artistic career and how he educated his offspring.
Many of his works were full of angular figures and mostly sombre colors.He once said that he did not paint to please the viewers and general public. Buffet favored tragic subjects, the underdogs and the horrors of warfare. His success lay in his synthesis of the thick, dark lines, which could express strength and speed, with the traditional techniques.
Lee's painting talents began to show during his grade school years. He later studied in the Teacher's College, where he followed the teaching by his Japanese professor Inshigawa Kinichro, who had been a great inspiration that led him to the world of watercolors. Upon commencement, he joins the largest and longest running Hsinchu First Public School, now Hsinchu elementary school, where he taught. He later taught at the Teacher's College and National Arts Academy, where he devoted his lifetime efforts in educating numerous talents. Certain artists seem to exist in the world created by themselves, where they find solace and passion runs high to create many timeless masterpieces. Lee had not been such kind. He joggled the reality and ideology in great equilibrium, exuding an impressive accomplishment of great thoroughness. Most of all he did not create shocking arts intended to stun. Four approaches that he piously followed are observing nature, grasping inspiration, trying, and showing.
Yang San-lang was born in 1907 in the Wangshih village of Taipei. Yang's grand-father was a scholar in Ching Dynasty and his father was a well-known poet. Yang's interest in painting dated back to his childhood when he always substituted words with drawings in his communications with his peers. At the age of 17, Yang began to assist his family's business of contributing tobacco and wine. Later on, with the money he earned, he left for Japan to pursue the study of painting without his parents' consent.
Then Yang began the period of painting that was his determination in life. He was able to fully concentrate on his study after gaining full understanding and financial aid from his family in Taiwan. He finally graduated from Kanzai Arts College in 1929, seven years after arriving Japan. His works had been selected from the Taiwan Exhibition and Chunyang Exhibition several times, and thus his fine reputation had been built up in both the Taiwanese and Japanese arts. It formed a bond of relationship between the artist and the fine arts in Taiwan there after. After finishing his study, Yang returned to Taiwan to continue to assist his father's business and pursue his interest in paintings. His interest was shared by his two close peers, Chen Chih-chi and Chen Cheng-po. They encouraged and supported each other, and opened up a manner of creativity in arts. Yang's success in Taiwan and Japan did not stop him refining his skills. In 1932, he went abroad to France to further his studies, and returned to Taiwan with more than one hundred pieces of paintings two years after.
Once again his works were acknowledged by Chunyang Exhibition and Taiwan Exhibition, so he had earned a place for him in the highly competitive art world in Taiwan. "Taiyang Art Association" was founded by a group of seven artists in 1934. This art association created a framework for the seven members to bring their passion into the creativity and arts development.
Size: 53x45.5㎝ Period: 1988 Material: Oil on canvas
Chang Wan-chuan, a native of Tamshui born in 1909. He completed his basic training at the former Taiwan Arts Free-study Institute, now Taiwan Arts Academy. During the Japanese occupation era, there was no higher education in arts in Taiwan at the time, Chang found his only choice was to go abroad. In 1930 Chang boarded a freight ship bound for Japan, where he enrolled in the Imperial Arts School, but was later dissuaded by Chen Der-won from studying there. Chang completed his training and returned to Taiwan in 1938 where he joined the Taiwan Artistic Society, and later withdrew to form a Mouve Action Society to promote the modelling arts in Taiwan. During the rationing of paper under the Japanese imperial rule, the cardboard paper became his canvas and he began to paint the fish theme.
During the political 228 incident, Chang was wrongly accused as an activist in said political upheaval for showing up in the wrong place looking for his students. Later Chang learned that he had been wanted by the authorities, so he ran to Chinshan,where he had an exile life for over 2 years as a fisherman. He eventually returned to his residence in Shihlin until the heat subsided. Known for his still life of fish theme, his dynamic brushes created power in vivid colors, speaking for the agility of the fish. Some even jokingly say that Chang almost painted the fishy smell on his canvas.
Size: 26×39㎝ Period: 1954 Material: Ink, Watercolor on paper
Hung Jui-lin was born in Taipei City in 1912. His father's long immersion in the traditional scholarly painting was the first benign influence on the young Hung. In 1927, Hung was admitted into the Taiwan Painting Research Institute funded by Ni Chiang-huai, and began his professional training in sketching plaster statues under the guidance of Kinichiro Ishikawa. In 1930, Hung went to Japan, and later graduated from the Japan Imperial Fine Arts School. After returning to Taiwan in July 1938, Hung started to observe the miners and worked together with them at the coal mining company managed by Ni Chiang-huai. The working miners subsequently became a key inspiration for Hung, who was thus able to secure his own distinctive style. Hung preferred to use simple, flowing yet rugged strokes to bring out the contours of his miners, the distinctive ambience of the underground mines, and the miners' weather-worn faces, as well as their dark, tightly-strung muscles. The powerful compassion for the toiling workers and the elderly, emanating from his works, never failed to touch the spectators. Except the painting about miners, Hung also painted the aboriginal people, nude girls and landscapes. After his retirement, the quest for sunlight obviously took the priority, when he moved to the U.S. and painted a series of landscapes celebrating sunlight. Still, his pieces on the miners always remain his signature works.
Liao Chi-chun was born in a poor peasant family in Fengyuan in 1902. After graduating from the normal college, he went for further study at Tokyo Fine Arts School with the financial help of his fiancee. In 1928, his work "A Garden with Plantain" was chosen for the Imperial Exhibition. He then returned to teach in Taiwan until his retirement.
Because of his artistic preeminence and his representative status in the fine arts circles in Taiwan, he was invited in June 1962 by the US State Department for a visit to the Fine Arts Museums of most of the big cities in the United States. This exposure to the main trends in international painting significantly broadened his own horizon, and was the impetus in bringing his career to a climactic point. The influence of west-paintings since informed his art.
Liao was one of the most renowned and unassuming predecessors in Taiwan arts. His command of color, especially the brighter shades, and of a light and brisk rhythm, giving forth a delightful and lyrical impression, was widely admired. Even after the war, he was still able to put to good use his already considerable experience and achievements of the pre-war years, and won the respect of the new generations with his evergreen-like vitality.
Despite the fact that the most part of his life was overshadowed by war and poverty, his paintings always portrayed a bright and aspiring world, full of peace and tranquility. His art is like a transcending and brilliant rainbow that straddled the gap between new and old, the post-war present and the pre-war past.
Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh of Pennsylvania in 1928. He was given the name of Andrew Warhol at birth. His parents were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. His father was a construction worker and later became a coal miner. After his father died in 1942, his mother had to do craft work to support the family. He studied painting and design at the Carnegie Institute. After he got his college degree in 1949, he immediately went to New York and worked as a commercial painter.
In the late 1950s, his commercial works were put on exhibition on a constant basis. Though the exhibitions did not capture much attention, they were the prelude to his fame. His commercial works made him a member of pop artists.
In the early 1960s, he started to break away from the commercial art and used the everyday life items and objects as the motif of his works. For example, he drew a few paintings on the Campbell's soup bottles and Coke cans, which he ate or drank at his studio. Throughout his art career, he injected many rich yet controversial subjects into his paintings in ads, comics, photos, etc. Though he did not pass down any outstanding teaching, he faithfully recorded and displayed the American life in his era and his works truthfully reflected the American way and American dream with his unique aesthetic input.
Bernard Buffet was born in France in 1928. When he was 15, he started to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1946, he had his first exhibition. In 1948, he was one of the two winners selected by Prix de la Critique. He gained prestige and fortune when he was only 20. In 1955, he was recognized as one of the 10 most outstanding painters in France after the World War Ⅱ. His paintings were used on stamps in France. Though he received a lot of prestige from the overseas, he was constantly under attack from the artistic circles in France.
Many of his works were full of angular figures and mostly sombre colors.He once said that he did not paint to please the viewers and general public. Buffet favored tragic subjects, the underdogs and the horrors of warfare. His success lay in his synthesis of the thick, dark lines, which could express strength and speed, with the traditional techniques.
Though he was quite popular in the overseas, his biggest regret was the fact that the artistic circles in France could not accept him. In his senior years, he was tormented by Parkinson's disease. The disease made him not being able to work and he once indicated to his friend that he wanted to die. On Oct. 4, 1999, he took his own life in his residence in France. He was 71 years old at the time.
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga of Spain in 1881. His father was an art teacher and the first painting teacher to Picasso. With the aid of his father, his talent in painting could be properly cultivated and developed from the early age.
In the early 1900s, Picasso moved to Paris and entered his Blue Period. In that period, his works were influenced by a few urban-dwelling painters including Munch and Toulouse-Lautree. In 1905, he entered his Rose Period. In this period, he had a happier life and his palette began to lighten, bringing in a "rose" tone. His paintings were populated by the circus performers and clowns, and he gradually became a recognized and prestigious painter. In 1907, affected by African sculpture techniques, Picasso developed Cubism, which was an important breakaway from the limited mimetic representation. Cubism was jointly developed by Picasso and Braque. Cubism was used more as a method of visually laying out the three-dimensional conceptual image of an object, as opposed to a perceptual one.
In 1912, Picasso developed the collages, which incorporated actual objects including wood pieces, wires, paper, etc. into his works. However, after a few years, he turned away from the collages. After he got in touch with classical fine arts and classical Roman arts, he started to draw a series of sketches and oil paintings of naked women. After 1923, his works showed dissected forms and shapes of figures.
In the early 1930s, Picasso started to paint a series of naked figures with conspicuous forms and bright colors; afterwards, he began to paint a series of works depicting bullfights (represented by Guernica).
In his senior years, he was still active in his paintings and full of creativity. With his unmatched talent, longevity and spirit of constant excelling, Picasso was indeed one of the greatest artists in the 20th century!
Joan Miro was born in Barcelona of Spain in 1893. His father was a goldsmith. After he persuaded his father, he entered Francisco Cali located in Barcelona to study arts in 1912. His early works on natural scenes and portraits showed the bright colors of the Fauvism. Between 1918 and 1922, he incorporated Cubism into his works and in the mean time he developed his own plain and simple painting style.
He moved to Paris in 1920. He started to socialize with the vanguard writers and participated in the Dadaist meetings. In the middle of 1920’s, his paintings started to show the influence of surrealism. In that period, his works were full of dreamlike, whimsical and twisted visions and shapes. His works in his mature period incorporated abstract, actual visual perception and amorphous amoebic surrealist expression. In that period, he also did sculptures and the collages. He started to devote himself to a wide range of etchings and lithographs from the late 1920’s. In 1954, he was the winner of an award from the Venice Biennial.
After the war, he continued to interpret the perceived world with his surrealist means and seeming nonchalance. His works were full of humorous quality, ambivalence and astonishment, reflecting the 20th century artistic spirit by his unique, effective way！
Size: 30x40cm Period: 1958 Material: Ink, Cray on Paper
Henry Moore was born in Castleford of Yorkshire, Britain in 1898. Both his parents were quite caring and understanding and hence he had a very happy childhood. In 1921, he received a scholarship from the London Art College. After he went to see the art exhibitions in the museum on a constant basis, he developed a tremendous interest on the sculpture techniques.
In his early period, his works were very much affected by the medieval British sculpture techniques. Later, he became strongly influenced by the art of ancient Egypt, Greece, the Renaissance and ancient Mexico. His works showed the tremendous impacts from these arts and his sculptures were full of vigor and vitality. He had already become a very important sculptor in Britain in the early 1930s.
Throughout his artistic career, all his works were only about two subjects: reclining figure and mother & son. The reason for this was that these two subjects were the greatest driving forces from his inner self or even subconscious, urging him to put them into the form of sculptures. He did over 250 pieces of sculptures of reclining figures since 1920. From 1922 to 1940, all his works were about mother & son. In an overview, his sculptures had the characteristics and form of a unique spatial linkage and abstract and a sense of penetration.
Robert Rauschenberg was born in Texas of the US in 1925. He was given the first name of Milton at birth. After he attended the Kansas City Art Institute from 1946 to 1947, he changed his first name to Bob and then again to Robert. In 1947, he started to study under Joseph Albers at the Black Mountain College, North Carolina. In that period, he was very much affected by Albers and his works in the period could be best represented by his all-white paintings and all-black paintings.
In 1953, he invented the "combined painting" by incorporation of neodadaist concept, abstract expressionism, photography and actual items. Later, the three-dimensional assemblage was derived from the combined painting. The assemblage negated the conventional concept that art was just an illusion, affirming that art is an embodiment of the real thing. He was the winner of an award from the Venice Biennial in 1962. He also participated in the performing art and experimental art activities. He assisted other artists to break away from the confinement of the abstract expressionism and helped the establishment of the pop movement art in the US.
