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- approval. The Party assumed an unprecedented control over the art community. The style was greatly limited to social realism and the subject matter was restricted largely to a few acceptable themes supporting the political stand of the Party.
Painting came to be placed in three categories: beneficial (ideologically sound), harmful (romantic themes and bourgeois formalism) and non-harmful (traditional landscapes, bird- and-flower paintings, etc.). Landscapes were sometimes considered neutral and at other times they were criticized as being associated with bourgeois and intellectual elite. At times, pure landscapes were unseen for they had no propaganda value. The ones that were painted had factories or public buildings placed in them to instill the idea of economic prosperity and, as well, they sometimes would have quotes from Chairman Mao placed on them. In the West, they earned the nickname �Red Landscapes.� The Communist govern�ment largely succeeded in eradicating many artistic styles and techniques during the Cultural Revolution. Some would disappear completely and some would make a come�back after the end of the Cultural Revolution.
Chinese Painters in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Abroad
Because of the Communist takeover of the mainland, many artists were spurred to leave China and resettle in Taiwan, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, Japan and other destinations. While the art scene in Communist China was rocked by restrictions, persecutions and isolation from the international art world, Chinese painters in Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas enjoyed an immense artistic freedom and exposure to current Western art trends. As a result they developed many new and innovative painting styles, characterized by great diversity and a richness of expression.
With no restrictions on artists, a supportive art market and a prosperous economic situation, Taiwan provided a favourable environment for artists to flourish, especially from the 1970s onwards. Artists in Taiwan reinvented or rediscovered the merits of their traditional art as well as adopted Western art techniques and ideas.
Painters like Chen Qikuan (b. 1921) [5] established their own highly personal styles by exploring the boundless possibilities which could be reached by combining the techniques of traditional Chinese painting with Western art concepts. Chen takes great interest in the interaction of space. It could be said that he did not preserve nor abandon the Chinese painting tradition.
One of the most interesting Taiwanese painters was Yu Chengyao (1898-1993) [C], who despite being untrained in painting conventions, produced refreshing compositions with fantastic grandeur using complex intertwining dots and lines, often characterized by a lush green colour and contrasting areas of light and shadow.
Liu Guosong (b. 1932) [42], who organized various art groups including the Fifth Moon Painting Society in Taipei, is a leading example of progressive painters in Taiwan. He has experimented with a variety of new techniques and textures of paper to produce a truly unique style with stunning visual effects. He never separated his paintings from the natural world, so one can always see landscapes in his abstractions, which is a very Chinese dimension. Another vibrant Taiwanese painter is He Huaishuo (b. 1941) [25] whose paintings have a sense of chaos created by the dynamic energy of his rhythmic brush�strokes. In his disorder, there is a structural harmony.
Hong Tong (1920-87) [M], a poor rural farmer who started painting at the age of 50, developed an exceptionally inventive and colourful style, which earned him the nickname of the Chinese Salvador Dali. His folksy primitive art has a mysterious and surrealistic flavour, with an atmosphere of childlike simplicity. His paintings are relatively rare due to the fact that he did not like to sell his work. Another Taiwanese artist named Yu Peng (b. 1955) [79] has also developed an interesting folksy style which is very unique and may have some influence from his love of traditional shadow puppet theatre. His caricuture- style paintings express a joyful mood and their abundance of good nature and humour are most endearing.
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