Painting’s Knight Errant: Chen Yang Chun

Born in Bei­gang, Yun­lin County, in 1946, Chen Yang Chun began studying calligraphy with a teacher at the age of seven. Talented and diligent, he won innumerable calligraphy and painting prizes while in elementary and middle school.

As a 14-year-old, he used to pass by a framing shop on his way to school. The framer, Wang Jia­liang, noticed that the boy would often tarry to appreciate the lovely paintings inside, and asked if he was interested in learning to paint. Wang went on to introduce Chen to the rich world of watercolors, planting the notion of becoming a professional painter in his young mind.

Sugarcane Harvest in Taiwan, 2007

Mixing East and West

Chen resolved to become a painter, and spent his years as a student in the industrial art department of the National Academy of Arts (now the National Taiwan University of Arts) auditing courses in the fine arts department on top of his coursework for his own major. He gained confidence from the instruction and support he received from painters there such as Fu ­Juanfu and Ren Bowu, and often spent time outside of the classroom prowling used book stalls for books of water­color prints. He studied these paintings repeatedly, enjoying both the scenes depicted and the techniques used to create them. Through constant study and practice, Chen gradually developed his own unique “Taiwanese watercolor” style that drew on the techniques of Chinese brush painting and Western water­color.

Chen painted delightful scenes of Yun­lin streets, Tam­sui sunsets, and historic Spanish cities, incorporating Chinese techniques such as leaving parts of the sea and sky unpainted. He creates a sense of quiet and harmony in these works by not cluttering his scenes of boats sailing on a lake or of birds or clouds in the sky with excess objects. Nourished by childhood memories of mountains and forests, and of the warm relations between people trading in the cattle market, his brightly colored works are also imbued with an earthy rural warmth.

Chen enjoys sketching local cultures and conditions, and his eye for personal detail has made his paintings of beautiful women especially beloved by collectors. He says that when he works on a painting of a woman, he first notes his model’s best side, then looks for aspects of her face and carriage that are unique to her. Chen always captures his models’ grace and the vibrancy of their expressions whether they are standing or reclining, smiling or gazing intently. “I paint them so prettily that everyone says I’ve made them look even more like themselves,” he says with a grin.

Religious images tend to have an air of solemnity and distance, but Chen chooses to depict Guan­yin, Mazu, Bodhi­darma and the monk Ji­gong in a more peaceful, compassionate, and even amiable light. When asked, he says that while he does draw on his memories of other Buddhist images, he also frequently seeks out models with features that correspond to his own ideas about Buddhist figures, dresses them up in the appropriate attire, and then paints them.

Visiting Jiufen by Night, 2015

Quitting the nine-to-five to paint

Chen worked for an advertising agency after graduating from art school, but after four years found himself unable to repress any longer his desire to make art. At the age of 27 he left his job to devote his full attention to painting.

Chen admits to having been uncertain about his decision. Fortunately, he received financial support from a friend, who provided him with a monthly stipend of NT$10,000 for one year in an era when middle-school teachers earned just NT$2,000 per month. With this support, Chen was able to put aside worldly concerns and throw himself wholeheartedly into painting. His work eventually caught the eye of collectors, and exhibitions in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan spread his reputation abroad. Nowadays, he even has 40 watercolors in the permanent collection of the Hi­ga­shi­hiroshima City Art Museum in Japan.

A Mazu Procession in Beigang, 2006

Cultural ambassador

Chen has held over 200 exhibitions since his first solo show in 1970. Taking place in countries as diverse as the US, the UK, Singapore, South Africa and Jordan, these exhibitions, which now regularly include paintings of Tai­pei 101 and Kao­hsiung’s 85 Sky Tower, have introduced the world to Taiwan’s rural and urban scenery. Chen’s Taiwanese subject matter also stirs the memories of Taiwan’s overseas communities, helping foster connections among community members and with ROC representative offices overseas, and earning Chen a reputation as a cultural ambassador.

Chen’s lifelong passion for watercolor has made painting almost a religion for him. He believes that the arts can temper people’s natures, and has made it his life’s goal to “spread enlightenment through the arts.” Recognizing the spiritual solace and tranquility that the arts can bring to those of us living in societies focused on efficiency and profit, Chen established the Continental Watercolor Art Hwa-yang Award in 2007 in hopes of introducing watercolors to a broader audience and providing encouragement to watercolorists.

In addition to painting and exhibiting, Chen is now planning the construction of his own art gallery to share his personal art collection and his own paintings. He also harbors another even bigger goal: creating hundreds of small, “private” galleries around Taiwan by having corporations adopt idle public spaces and use them to display artists’ work. He is convinced that if everyone works together to protect the beauty of Taiwan, we can make our island an internationally renowned cultural destination. While his goal may seem ambitious, Chen has long been a dreamer, one who has successfully used his talent with a brush to paint his own beautiful world.                            

Sunset-Tinted Clouds Above Taipei 101, 2014

Chen likes to burn some agarwood incense when painting to create a Chan Buddhist atmosphere and free his mind. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)

Chen Yang Chun has blended Western watercolor and Chinese brush-painting techniques into a lovely Taiwanese watercolor style that magically captures the beauty of a scene. (photos by Chuang Kung-ju)

Chen Yang Chun has blended Western watercolor and Chinese brush-painting techniques into a lovely Taiwanese watercolor style that magically captures the beauty of a scene. (photos by Chuang Kung-ju)

Chen Yang Chun has blended Western watercolor and Chinese brush-painting techniques into a lovely Taiwanese watercolor style that magically captures the beauty of a scene. (photos by Chuang Kung-ju)

Chen’s paintings of Taiwanese scenes have earned him a reputation as a cultural ambassador by helping foster connections among members of Taiwanese communities overseas and with ROC representative offices, and raising Taiwan’s international profile. This 1999 photograph shows Chen (left) in Scotland at his 70th solo exhibition. (courtesy of Chen Yung Chun))

Chen Yang Chun has painted beautiful scenes of every place he has visited while traveling the world exhibiting his work. Shown here is Fall in Istanbul (2005).

In Love with London Bridge (2008)

How Lovely to Dream, 2006

Helping Mortals Across the Sea of Suffering, 2010

Located next to Zhinan Temple in Taipei’s Muzha area, the Chen Yang Chun Art Gallery exhibits art and offers free painting classes to children to further Chen’s vision of spreading enlightenment through art. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)

Zhinan Temple, Palace Above the Clouds, 2014

Officials at Zhinan Temple invited people to create sculptures based on Chen’s brilliant paintings of cattle. Viewed from the Maokong Gondola, they look remarkably lifelike. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)