CHEN CHIN’S ARTWORK IN THE 1930s: Beginning with Leisurely from the TFAM Collection 1930 年代的陳進


	Winter 2007

CONTENTS

	THE HSING-LUNG GROCERY STORE 興隆雜貨店 By Syaman RAPONGAN 夏曼‧藍波安 Translated by May Li-ming TANG 湯麗明

	THE STORY OF BEGGAR’S COTTAGE 乞食寮舊事 By Ah Sheng 阿盛 Translated by Karen Steffen CHUNG 史嘉琳

	PRINCESS UP ALL NIGHT 公主徹夜未眠 By CHENG Ying-shu 成英姝 Translated by David van der Peet 范德培

	MEMORIES OF MY FATHER想念父親 STANDING WITH THE TREE AGAINST THE WIND 跟樹站在一起抵抗風 HIS MAJESTY MY FATHER 父王 WHEN THE NORTH WIND CAME 北風來的時候 By Hsiao Hsiao 蕭蕭 Translated by Patty Pei-Jung LEE 李佩蓉

	JOURNEY 旅程 BY CHEN I-chih 陳義芝 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	RETURN TO ANGKOR 回到吳哥 By Hsu Hui-chih 許悔之 Translated by Karen Steffen CHUNG 史嘉琳

	NEON LIGHTS 霓虹燈 By CHEN Yu-hong 陳育虹 Translated by Karen Steffen CHUNG 史嘉琳

	THE GRAND TUTOR’S ARMCHAIR 太師椅 By Hsiang Ming 向明 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	INTERIOR DRAWING 室內繪 By Hsiang Ming 向明 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	CHEN CHIN’S ARTWORK IN THE 1930s: Beginning with Leisurely from the TFAM Collection 1930 年代的陳進－從北美館所藏1935 年〈悠閒〉談起 By Yu-chun LIN 林育淳 Translated by Mark I. HAMMONS 何邁

	NEWS & EVENTS 文化活動 Compiled by Sarah Jen-hui HSIANG 項人慧

	NOTES ON AUTHORS AND TRANSLATORS 作者與譯者簡介

	APPENDIX : CHINESE ORIGINALS 附錄：中文原著

	CATTLEYA 洋蘭, gouache on silk,72 × 90 cm, 1985 ...............COVER

	MATERNAL LOVE 母愛, gouache on silk,72 × 53 cm, 1984.....BACK COVER By CHEN Chin 陳進

Yu-chun LIN 林育淳

CHEN CHIN’S ARTWORK IN THE 1930s: Beginning with Leisurely from the TFAM Collection
1930 年代的陳進－從北美館所藏1935 年
〈悠閒〉談起*

Translated by Mark I. HAMMONS 何邁

Time moved more slowly when Chen Chin was a youth. Pluralism and criticism were not central to the art scene in Taiwan in that part of the 20th century, and although creativity was important, artistic technique and mood were deemed even more so. Born in Hsiangshan, Hsinchu County, Chen Chin’s family was wealthy, prominent, and strict. Chen Chin was the first Taiwanese artist to graduate from the Women’s School of Fine Arts, Tokyo. She was also one of the first female intellectuals

Leisurely 悠閒, gouache on silk,
a collection of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 136×161 cm, 1935

to be educated under the new education system, and her work embodied a rich mixture of both traditional and modern styles. Chen Chin was a pioneer in the development of Oriental art in Taiwan. She was one of the first Taiwanese artists to present works in the Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition or the Taiten (1927), the only Taiwanese judge in the Oriental art division at the Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition (1932-1934), and the first Taiwanese artist to show works at the Japan Imperial Art exhibition or the Teiten (1934). Although she has a number of remarkable achievements to her name, most important is her commitment to the highest artistic and humanistic standards.

Beginning in 1925, when she went to Japan with high expectations, Chen Chin devoted herself to painting. She began studying under Kaburaki Kiyokata, and in the following year she composed works primarily of portraits, marking her first artistic high point. The following are some of Chen’s representative large paintings from the period: Michelia Fuscata from the 7th annual Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition, 1933), Ensemble from the 15th annual Teiten, 1934), Leisurely (1935), Make Up (from the 1st annual reorganized Teiten in 1936), Mountain Area (from the Syowa 11 Ministry of Education Art Exhibition, also known as the Bunten in 1936), Grain-pounding Song (from the 1st Governor’s Art Exhibition or the Futen in 1938), Sisters (from the 1st annual Seikinkai Exhibition in 1939), Firecracker (from the 2nd annual Women’s Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition in 1939).

Michelia Fuscata 含笑花, gouache on silk, 220×181 cm, 1933

Every one of Chen’s works exhibits a delicate and exquisite aesthetic. The pictorial refinement and enormous size of one of Chen’s works held at the TFAM, Leisurely,...

*	From Yu-chun Lin 林育淳ed.Chen Chin pai-sui chi-nien-chan——fu jih hsunhui chien-chan《陳進百歲紀念展——赴日巡迴前展》(Centennial Celebration of Chen Chin— A Preview of the Touring Exhibition in Japan). Taipei: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2006, pp. 12-19.