2026 ART TAIPEI

PU Xinyu (1896–1963), born into the Aisin Gioro imperial family of the Qing dynasty, was one of the most influential painters, calligraphers, and poets of twentieth-century Chinese art. Known alongside Zhang Daqian as “South Zhang, North Pu,” and together with Huang Junbi and Zhang Daqian as one of the “Three Masters Crossing the Sea,” he later taught at the Department of Fine Arts at National Taiwan Normal University. Deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, Pu excelled in poetry, calligraphy, landscapes, bird-and-flower painting, and figure painting, and was often regarded as “the last great literati painter.” Yet beyond preserving tradition, he developed a highly distinctive artistic language that combined classical refinement with a modern sensibility. His elegant small-format paintings, innovative boneless landscape techniques, and even humorous comic-like works revealed both profound scholarship and remarkable creativity. After relocating to Taiwan, Pu created numerous works inspired by local scenery such as Taroko Gorge and Beitou’s Phoenix Pavilion. Rather than simply depicting nature, he transformed personal experience and poetic imagination into expressive visual worlds, embodying the literati ideal of “poetry within painting, and painting within poetry.” For PU Xinyu, painting was not merely a technical discipline, but the culmination of scholarship, character, and spiritual cultivation. Through his mastery of tradition and innovative artistic vision, he opened new possibilities for modern literati painting and remains one of the defining figures of modern Chinese art.

Yu Cheng-Yao (February 28, 1898 – April 4, 1993), born Yu Shun with the courtesy name Cheng-Yao, was a native of Yangshang Township, Yongchun County, Fujian. In 1920, he went to Japan, where he studied economics at Waseda University before transferring to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in Tokyo. After returning to China, he taught tactics at the Whampoa Military Academy, retired with the rank of lieutenant general in 1946, and came to Taiwan in 1949, the year the Nationalist government relocated there. Having spent the first half of his life in the military and in business, he did not take up painting until the age of 56, earning him the title “the General Painter.” Self-taught and taking nature as his only teacher, he built up rock textures and dense mountain structures with fine, tightly woven brushstrokes. Shaped by his travels across China’s mountains and rivers in his early years, his ink paintings carry a grand, lofty spirit and a style entirely his own, securing him an important place in modern Asian ink painting. His major exhibitions include his first overseas solo exhibition, at the Chinese Cultural Center in New York in 1977; his first solo exhibition in Taiwan, held at the age of 88 at Hsiung Shih Gallery in Taipei in 1986; a solo exhibition at Hong Kong City Hall in 1987; Yu Cheng-Yao at Ninety: A Retrospective at the National Museum of History in Taipei in 1988; and A Heart-warming Glance: Calligraphy and Paintings by Yu Cheng-Yao at the National Museum of History in 2015.

TAI Jing-Nong (1902–1990) was a major twentieth-century Chinese literary scholar, writer, and calligrapher, whose life closely reflected the experience of the May Fourth generation intellectuals who later relocated to Taiwan. After arriving in Taiwan in 1946, he taught at the Department of Chinese Literature at National Taiwan University, where he later served as department chair for over two decades, profoundly influencing Taiwan’s postwar humanities education. In addition to his achievements in literature, TAI is widely regarded as one of the most important modern literati calligraphers. The lettering of National Taiwan University’s current logo was derived from his calligraphy, demonstrating the enduring significance of his artistic style. Deeply rooted in the tradition of Chinese stele studies, TAI Jing-Nong absorbed influences from Han and Wei dynasty inscriptions, archaic cursive script, and the calligraphic traditions of the Jin and Tang dynasties. He developed a distinctive style marked by vigorous brushwork, spacious composition, and a profound sense of cultural refinement. His calligraphy balances the rugged strength of epigraphy with the elegance of literati aesthetics, emphasizing restraint, inner spirit, and scholarly depth rather than decorative beauty.

Suda Kokuta (1906–1990), born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, was a Western-style painter known for his vigorous brushwork and highly expressive, life-filled visual language. Although he devoted much of his career to figurative painting across various media, he also explored abstract painting during the 1950s. Through his exchanges with the avant-garde calligraphy journal Bokubi《墨美》 and members of Bokujinkai《墨人會》, Suda gradually developed a deep interest in calligraphy. Approaching the medium from the perspective of a modern artist and guided by his own distinctive theories of form, he pursued innovative modes of expression, producing a large body of calligraphic works that can also be understood as forms of abstract painting.

Inoue Yuichi (1916–1985), born in Tokyo, was one of the most significant calligraphers in postwar Japanese art. He studied under Ueda Sokyu and, in 1952, co-founded the avant-garde calligraphy group Bokujinkai《墨人會》 alongside artists such as Morita Shiryu. Responding to the rise of Abstract Expressionism in the postwar art world, Inoue developed highly experimental single-character calligraphy (ichiji-sho) works. Renowned for their bold formal qualities, his works are widely regarded as masterpieces that transcend the boundaries between calligraphy and painting, earning critical acclaim both in Japan and internationally. Inoue participated in major international exhibitions including the São Paulo Biennale and Documenta in Kassel, Germany, while also maintaining an active artistic presence overseas throughout his career.

Chen Chi-Kwan (1921–2007) was born in Beiping (present-day Beijing). From an early age, he received a classical education in Chinese literature and calligraphy, studying seal, clerical, regular, running, and cursive scripts, which laid a profound foundation for his traditional aesthetic sensibilities. During the Sino-Japanese War, his family relocated frequently before eventually settling in Chongqing, where he studied architecture at National Central University. After serving as a translator in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II, Chen later traveled to the United States in 1948 to continue his studies. In 1951, he joined Walter Gropius’s architectural firm and was subsequently invited to teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1954, at the invitation of I. M. Pei, he returned to Taiwan to participate in the planning of Tunghai University. He later founded the Department of Architecture at Tunghai University and independently designed and supervised the construction of the iconic Luce Memorial Chapel, establishing his lasting connection with Taiwan. Beyond architecture, Chen Chi-Kwan was also an accomplished painter. Beginning during his years in the United States, he held solo exhibitions at major university museums and galleries across America. His paintings broke away from the conventions of traditional Chinese painting by integrating architectural concepts, spatial imagination, and natural imagery into a highly personal visual language. Viewing the world through what he described as the “mind’s eye,” Chen developed a style that was both refined and unconventional—rooted in the spirit of traditional Chinese literati painting while infused with the ideas and aesthetics of Western modernism. His works expanded the visual possibilities of landscape and reshaped perceptions of beauty and space. Art historian Wu Neisun famously praised him as “the first in three hundred years,” leading to the saying: “One Zhang Daqian in three hundred years, one Chen Chi-Kwan in five hundred.”

Yu Peng was born in 1955 in Waishuangxi, Taipei, Taiwan, and passed away in 2014. He grew up in a relatively stable postwar era. After completing his military service, he worked as a street artist in Taipei’s New Park (now 228 Peace Memorial Park), drawing portraits for visitors. His years as a street artist sharpened his quick and keen powers of observation and made him a highly skilled figure sketcher. Yu Peng’s career can be divided into three periods: early (1980–1997), middle (1998–2004), and late (2004–2014). His early output consisted mostly of drawings and watercolors. His drawing style was deeply inspired by Chen Yigeng, and the influence of Taiwanese and international artists he encountered through “Lion Art” and “Artist” magazines is also evident. In 1997, at the invitation of his friend Zheng Zaidong, he moved to Shanghai, where he lived for three years and traveled widely across mainland China. This experience greatly enriched the depth and range of his ink landscapes and figure paintings, with his “Desire Landscapes / Figures” series standing as the representative work of this period. From 2005 until his death in 2014, he continued to travel frequently between Taiwan and mainland China, taking part in numerous projects and exhibitions. Although Yu Peng is best known for his ink painting, his early drawings and pastels reveal the source of its strength: the successful transformation of Western drawing lines into the remarkable brushwork of his middle and late periods. His works are marked by originality and a strongly personal mode of expression.

Born in Taipei in 1957, with ancestral roots in Fu’an, Fujian, Wu Shi-Wei graduated from the Chinese Painting Division of the Department of Fine Arts at Chinese Culture University in 1985 and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Tunghai University in 1998. He has held seventeen solo exhibitions, taken part in more than one hundred group exhibitions in Taiwan and abroad, and published ten painting catalogues. Through refined brushwork, meticulous layered washes, and elegant yet vivid color, his paintings create an exquisite world in which all things may enter the picture. Combining the quiet refinement of the literati tradition with a rich interplay of ink and color, his graceful and vigorous brushwork charts a restrained new path for ink painting in the contemporary era.

Bu Zi, whose real name is Zong Shen Chen, was born in Xixinliao, Annan District, Tainan, Taiwan. He is also known by the sobriquets Shao Jun and Xixin Sanren. In his early career, he worked at the National Museum of History in Taiwan and later served as a juror for the National Art Exhibition, as well as a collection committee member at both the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. Bu Zi uses the traditional Eastern art form of calligraphy as the primary medium for artistic expression, particularly embracing kuangcao (wild cursive script) as a means of transcending the self and exploring the subjectivity of artistic creation. Through this practice, he reinterprets and renews the creative potential within classical calligraphic tradition, pursuing what he considers the creator’s ultimate “aspiration of life.” His distinctive style, known as “Bu Zi Spiral Script,” establishes a highly recognizable form of contemporary literati calligraphy.

Courtesy name: Yu Chuan Zi. Born in 1973 in Huangshan, Anhui, Liu Xin completed his studies in the Department of Chinese Painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1997 and is currently based in Beijing. Liu excels in meticulous gongbi techniques of traditional Chinese painting. Drawing inspiration from the antiquarian painting styles of the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, he created a series of sixteen portrait-style album leaves depicting Xuande incense burners. Some of these works were previewed in Shanghai in October 2014, receiving high praise from collectors, and were later featured in the major publication Yiyun《異雲》—a scholarly monograph on bronze incense burners published at the end of 2016. His works have also been exhibited at the invitation of Christie’s Beijing and renowned British collector of Ming-style furniture, Marcus Flacks.

Born in 1974, Meng Qiang holds a Master’s degree from the School of Art at Soochow University. He was named a “Suzhou Arts and Crafts Master” in the third round of the title’s conferral, and is a board member of the Suzhou Museum Association, an executive director of the Suzhou Arts and Crafts Industry Association, and head of the designated safeguarding unit for the Suzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage item “Scholar’s Rock Processing Techniques.” He is also a member of the Suzhou Copyright Bureau Expert Committee and currently serves as Director of the Suzhou Brick Carving Museum. A passionate connoisseur of antiquities with an extensive personal collection, Meng has devoted himself to the study of Suzhou-style brick carving, garden stone engraving, and the literati tradition of scholar’s rock appreciation. His academic and creative work is rooted in these areas, supported by a substantial body of essays and publications. With over twenty years of experience in scholar’s rock research, Meng has undertaken more than a hundred field investigations and stone selection trips to major stone-producing regions. He specializes in identifying, refining, cleaning, and enhancing stones such as Taihu, Lingbi, and Ying rocks, along with crafting their display stands and mounts. His efforts have resulted in numerous outstanding works, some of which are now housed in museums across China. He has received multiple awards in national arts and crafts exhibitions, and his writings—combining theoretical insight with hands-on experience—have been widely published in professional academic journals.

Born in 1975 in Hualien, Taiwan, Chang Ling received his D.N.S.A.P. (Diplôme National Supérieur d’Arts Plastiques) from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2004. In 2006, he joined Hantoo Art Group, a Taipei-based artists’ collective. Chang Ling’s recent solo exhibitions include War Preparation at MOCA Taipei in 2023, Flowers Bloom in the Moment When Time Does Not Exist at Don Gallery, Shanghai, in 2022, and The Illusion Society: The Everyday of History at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in 2019. Recent group exhibitions include Memories of the Times: Highlights from the Collection at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.

Born in 1982 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Muran graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Tunghai University and later obtained a degree from the Graduate Institute of Plastic Arts (Printmaking Division) at Taipei National University of the Arts. From lush, tranquil forests and quietly blooming flora to serene domestic interiors and moments of everyday leisure, Muran’s work—whether in multi-color reduction prints or monochrome woodcut prints—goes beyond charming visual forms and decorative detail. Rather than focusing solely on surface aesthetics or intricate carving techniques, the true essence of his practice lies in a deep painterly sensibility and a sustained reflection on his personal way of living. For Muran, his art is a narration of daily life: a leisurely breakfast, the shifting light outside a window, potted plants on a balcony—infused with his imaginative sensibility. Calm and composed, his works evoke the gentle warmth of winter sunlight. Through each carved line, he expresses a quiet contentment—an inward fulfillment and ease that reflects his enduring appreciation for the subtle beauty of everyday life.

Zhu Xiaozhu (b. 1982) was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu, and graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Suzhou Brick Carving Museum. Having devoted many years to the study of traditional gongbi and ink painting, she has developed a profound understanding of classical pictorial aesthetics and, through the creative framework of “bringing scholar’s rocks into painting,” has formed a new ink vocabulary that balances antiquity with contemporary expression. Zhu takes traditional scholar’s rocks—such as Taihu stones, Ying stones, and Lingbi stones—as her primary subjects. Through delicate ink washes, textured rubbing, and intentional use of blank space, she constructs rock forms that possess both structural rhythm and a sense of breath. For her, the beauty of stones lies not in their surface appearance but in the cadence of their lines, the tension of their planes, the interplay of textures, and the mutual generation of solidity and void. In her work, the scholar’s rock is no longer a static object; it becomes a condensation of cosmic energy—an emblem of the Dao. This spiritual reading of stones continues the literati ideal of unifying poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal carving, while also integrating elements of Western abstraction. The result is a unique visual language in which Eastern imagery and contemporary sensibilities coexist.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1989, Yen Yu-Ting focuses her practice on the dialogue and reinterpretation between the cultural context of ink painting and the experiences of contemporary life. Often taking images and texts from news events as her point of departure, Yen brings together personal perception with a transformed vocabulary of traditional ink painting. Through this process, she recomposes information and narratives from different times and places, using painting to reflect a collective state of agitation and disorientation in contemporary society, as well as the absurdity and subtle humor that emerge from it.