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Lin
Chih-chu has become known on the island as a master
of the obscure art of "glue-color" painting
and has inspired many Taiwanese artists with his
unique skill and eye for nature.
"Glue color" painting
is an art form that originated in China during
the Tang Dynasty, and today it is preserved mostly
by the Japanese. This form of painting uses glue
that is soaked, heated and filtered and then mixed
with minerals or clay pigments and then applied
layer by layer on the canvas. Lin notes that glue-color
painting does not reveal lighting or shading, but
uses light and dark colors to create a 3-D appearance,
which is quite different from Western oil painting.
Born in 1917 in Daya Township, Taichung County,
Lin was able to pursue his interest because his
father was very wealthy and had a great appreciation
for the arts. His family lived in a three-sided
compound with a large courtyard that contained
an extensive garden. As a small child, when tired
of playing, he would stay in the garden and observe
the flowers and birds and as a result became a
keen observer of nature. In elementary school,
he gradually became aware of his unique drawing
talent and after he finished the fifth grade his
father sent him to Japan to study. There he finished
elementary school and in junior high school began
focusing on his art. Eventually, he entered art
school.
At
age 23, his painting "Coolness of the Morning" was
chosen as a finalist in Japan's largest and most
prestigious art contest. In the background of this
painting are tall bushes of morning glories with
grayish leaves and white and grayish blossoms and
in the forefront was a goat and its kid--completely
white except for black horns and hooves. Next to
them is Lin's young wife, wearing a dark blue kimono.
He believes that it was his boldness in going against
the current theory of use of space and colors that
gained him this recognition. This painting is unusual
in that it is vertical and the colors change when
the painting is looked at up close and far away.
However, due to poor preservation, the colors on
the original have faded significantly. This piece
is now part of the extensive collection of Taiwan's
early artists in the Taiwan Art Museum.
Lin continued to live and work in Japan and, after
graduating from art school, he returned to Taiwan
at the end of World War II. In 1946, he was hired
as an art professor at Taichung Teachers' College
and moved into a house behind on Liuchuan West
Road, where his studio remains. Lin taught at the
college for 33 years and inspired many of Taiwan's
contemporary glue-color painters. Now, he spends
most of the time in the U.S. but insists on staying
in Taiwan a few months each year to participate
in exhibitions and to continue to teach.
Due
to the influence of his childhood garden, many
of Lin's paintings feature birds and flowers. Lin
explains his preference for these subjects by saying
that, "Birds sing and flit about no matter
if there is someone there to see them or listen
to them. Flowers are the same. Their beauty is
there whether or not people appreciate it." Lin
knows that he was very lucky to have been able
to concentrate on his artwork full time. He says
that his students in Taiwan mostly have to teach
or do other work on the side in addition to their
art to survive. He adds that due to this, the development
of the arts in Taiwan remains far slower than that
of the Western world.
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