Chen Chin Exhibition

Since Japan’s colonial rule began in 1895, Taiwan has undergone a different political path from mainland China and has developed its unique cultures and arts. Currently shifting toward democratization and liberalization, Taiwan has seen a rising awareness of identity as Taiwanese, which has also affected the field of visual art, leading to the notion of “Taiwanese art” and advancing academic research on such art during Japan’s colonial era. Chen Chin is among those who began their careers as painters during Japan’s colonial rule in Taiwan, who left a significant legacy in 20th-century Taiwanese art.

Born in a prosperous family in Taiwan in 1907, Chen Chin was taught by the Japanese painter Gobara Koto at Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School and later enrolled at the Private Women’s School of Fine Arts (current Joshibi University of Art and Design) in Tokyo. After her graduation, Chen became a disciple of Kaburaki Kiyokata and studied under Kiyokata and Ito Shinsui, among others.  Chen was selected to join the 1^st Taiwan Arts Exhibition when she was a student, and became the first Taiwanese female artist to be selected for the 15^th Teiten (Imperial Art Exhibition) in 1934, as well as several selections of works in Teiten and Bunten, in the following years. In postwar Taiwan, Chen struggled to work as she recognized the ongoing debate between traditional Chinese painting and East Asian painting (Nikawa painting). After she married and became a mother, Chen continued to depict family life, becoming the most prestigious female painter in Taiwan until she passed away in Taipei in 1998.

Celebrating 100 years since Chen Chin’s birth, the show brings together 77 paintings, including her representative pieces as well as 26 sketches, along with 26 works by Japanese painters of her generation. It aims to look back on Chen’s remarkable achievements and consider the unique trajectory of Taiwanese painting that evolved in the 20^th century.