Canal Series

After the 1970s, CHANG Ping-tang’s painting style tended towards Fauvism, becoming a typical Fauvist painter following LIAO Chi-chun and KUO Po-chuan. This Canal Series work is from the mid- or later period of his Fauvist style. From the brushstrokes to the use of color, one can feel the artist’s maturity in painting development during this period. Under the bright sunlight of south Taiwan, the blue, red, and green colors on the boat and the white of the canal, the yellow on the riverbank, contrast with each other. Strong lines are used to achieve a powerful effect on the picture, while the distant scenery and pink-tinged clouds soften the picture and enrich the layers of the work.

CHANG Ping-Tang was born in Tainan, displaying his self-confident brilliance at the 5th Taiwan Governor-General Exhibition with the work Morning in the Imperial Court at the young age of 15, making him the youngest Taiwanese painter ever to be nominated at an official government exhibition. CHANG was one of the first Fauvist painters in Taiwan and he often focused his subject matter on historical sites, canals and temples, being particularly skilled at using bold colored blocks and freehand lines to depict landscape scenes. In his early years, the artist disliked blurry intermediate colors and was very adept at using heavy primary colors, succinct lines and rapid brush strokes to complete works replete with individualism and vitality. Reflections on “Chinese colors” in the works of KUO Po-chuan enlightened CHANG as to the complementary nature of subject matter and primary colors and thereafter temples with red walls and bright yellow and indigo glazed tiles became a stylistic constant in his works.