Lot 627: LIAO JICHUN 1902-1976

TAINAN CONFUCIUS TEMPLE

TAINAN CONFUCIUS TEMPLE

measurements note
76 by 96 cm. 30 by 37 3/4 in.

Signed C.LIAO, dated 1962

oil on canvas, framed

PROVENANCE

From the artist family

NOTE

Important Painting from the Artists Family Collection :Liao Jichun and his Tainan Confucius Temple (Lot 627)

"I like to employ sententious, strong colors, the various tones of which are created by contrast and emphasis. The lines were arranged with intensive attention to the forms they shape. I am not trying to depict a specific moment, it is the tones of colors that I want to represent."

Liao Jichun's professional career began in 1927 after he graduated from Tokyo Fine Arts School and accepted the employment to teach at Tainan Presbyterian Church Middle School upon return. As a predominant member of the first-generation of Taiwan oil painters, Liao Jichun, like his contemporaries, was nurtured by the major Western art movements prevailing from the turn of the twentieth century, such as the Impressionism, Post-impressionism, Fauvism, and Abstractionism. Liao Jichun's indispensable contribution to the development of modern painting in Taiwan, lies in his mastery of colors, which appears to be heavy, bulky, and at the same time, light and bright. No matter how contradictory it sounds to put all the primary colors together, on Liao's canvas, they are in no way in conflict with each other, harmony is what dominates the canvas. It is safe to say that it is his innate sensitiveness towards color, the unique tropical sceneries of Tainan, and his consistent sedulity eventually laurelled Liao Jichun with the title of ¡§magician of colors'.
In his half-century-long pursuit of perfection, Liao Jichun underwent three facets in styles. From the loyal advocate of Impressionism, post Impressionism at the beginning, whose concern was "to deform and exaggerate the subject depicted in compliance with its aesthetic value, so that the painting would appear rich and substantial in content", to the practice of Abstractionism and Expressionism in his mid-career, to the maturity of his style based on Fauvism since his sixtieth. Liao Jichun is a painter who has made great efforts to progress with time.
By the 1960, the painter indulged himself fully in Fauvism. The free and bold adoption of primary colors such as red, yellow, blue, and green, most likely derived from the subtle influence of Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986), whom Liao accompanied several times to Tainan to sketch from 1935 to 1936 during his visit to Taiwan as the judge of the Japanese-run Imperial Art Exhibition.Talking about Liao's art, the year 1962 is a must mention, a year that played a crucial role in Liao's artistic endeavor.
In May of 1962, Liao was invited by the State Department of the United States to visit its museums, galleries, universities, as well as to meet artists and critics. After returning from the four-month stay in the States followed by a trip to Europe, Liao Jichun's style was remarkably changed. Like Marc Chaqall (1887-1985) once said, that his coming to Paris is not to learning painting, but to receive stimulations. So did the trip mean to Liao.
At the age of sixty, Liao finally broke through the boundaries between various forms of paintings, "it doesn't matter whether it¡¦s abstract or representational, the most important issue is what there is to be expressed. The form of a painting is merely a medium to convey the mentality of the artist."
From 1960 to 1962, Liao painted four works entitled Tainan Confucius Temple (pls. 1, 2), the piece in our sale was painted in exactly the year of 1962 during his stay in Chicago, and it is the largest in size among the four.
The Tainan Confucius Temple, first built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is the most ancient and most historically significant Confucius Temple on the island. It was once used as the provincial school of Taiwan, a stele inscribed The No.1 School of Taiwan still remains. Architecturally speaking, Tainan Confucius Temple stands out for its simple, elegant shape mingled with local architectural features. The ancient banyan tree in the courtyard is absolutely a plus to the historical site.
Liao's passionate and unrestrained deployment of the primary blue, yellow, green, and red, bulky and heavy, yet, bright and light, vividly illustrated the natural beauty of southern Taiwan, where Liao had homed for more than three decades.