Hsieh Tung-shan

If artists are classified by the era in which they create, then Yang Shu-huang belongs to the baby boom generation. However, a review of his works is like looking at paintings by much older Taiwanese artists. This sense of dislocation is particularly evident in the works he produced in the 1990’s before returning to Taiwan; “Paris Montmarte Snow Scene” (巴黎蒙馬特雪景) (1988), “Purple Flowers and Golden Fruit” (紫花與金果) (1989), “Potted Plant in the Morning” (早晨的盆栽) (1989), “Village After Rainfall” (雨後農莊) (1990), “Arched Bridge on the Sanhsia in the Morning Mist” (晨霧中的三峽拱橋) (1990), “Next to Old Street Bridge in Sanhsia” (三峽老街橋畔) (1990), “Rural Street” (鄉下街坊) (1990), “Next to the Banana Plantation” (蕉園旁) (1990),”Flock of Sheep on Pagua Mountain” (八卦山的羊群) (1990), “Pigeons in a Cage” (鴿之籠) (1992) etc. If we focus on works produced in the period 1988-1992, then it is possible to say that on both stylistically and technically these seem much closer to the approach of such older artists as Liao Chi-chun, Yang San-lang, Lee Shih-chiao, Liu Chi-hsiang, Kuo Po-chuan etc. Despite this, whether we look at art history or the artist’s own age, Yang Shu-huang cannot be classified as an older painter, as he was born at least half a generation too late.

Painting Schools
Clearly then Yang Shu-huang is too young to be considered part of the older generation of local painters. The reason for his highly distinctive style can be largely attributed to the tuition he received from older painters, especially Lee Shih-chiao and Liao Chi-chun, the former being the most influential. For example, it is very much evident that the artist’s basic oil painting technique was taught by Lee Shih-chiao.

Technically, Yang was born into the generation of academic painters that rose to prominence in the early post war period, many of whom were strongly influenced by Lee Shih-chiao. The situation was a corollary to that for artists born in the later period of Japanese colonial rule, when many learned directly or indirectly from the technique and even style of Liao Chi-chun. Looked at from a social perspective, this is an extremely normal situation because no painter produces work in a cultural vacuum, rather as individuals they realize their art from within the society in which they live. Whether it is done consciously or not, the external environment within which this artistic action occurs determines the scope of social realization in the painting of any given era. The reason that the oil paintings of Yang Shu-huang are so similar to those of an older generation of artists is that the education he received was conducted in a very specific place and time.

Style
It is worth reflecting on the significance of Yang Shu-huang’s oil painting style. Simply labeling him as belonging to the Academic or Impressionist schools, as many critics who praise reform or innovation have claimed over the last 50 years, fails to focus on the true nature of his creative work. A painting style often originates in one school or another, having first been established by a renowned painter. It is then inherited, passed on and changed by imitators over a period of time, before finally taking shape. In the west, this process can be traced back to at least the Renaissance, for example although there are clear differences between the Venice and Florence schools of painting, they are still referred to collectively as Italian Renaissance style. In his book “The Phenomenology of Painting,” Contemporary creative theorist Nigel Wentworth points out that when painters learn to paint or craft their own style they usually learn the painting style of a specific school. The teaching of a painting school includes instruction in the use of materials and tools, and these are then used to construct a specific period in time and fixed artistic effects. Such schools can be considered models within which new painters learn their craft, examples include the Impressionists or Cubists.

In Taiwan the Waiguang School (also called the Pan Impressionist School) has many members. It was first established during the late Meiji period in Japan and brought back as a model to be emulated by local students who studied in that country. The Waiguang School was made up of a handful of artists, who in the years that followed were copied by others. As the results of this work were passed on from one generation to the next, newcomers tended to follow the instructions of their teachers, thereby establishing a set of rules for cultivating a particular style. As with many second generation academic school oil painters, Yang Shu-huang received a typical education. All new painters learned from other painters, including imitating or copying their works - a method of cultivation that has long been a core element in the way in which painting is taught.

Where Yang differs from other graduates of departments of fine art is that he has not chosen to blindly follow the pan-impressionists by creating tired works that bear no indication of personal character and sentiment. After leaving Taiwan to study overseas, the artist successfully transformed what he learned at home into a distinctively personal realist style and this marked the second stage in his painting career. Compared to his current approach, example “Banana Plantation” (香蕉園), painted in 2005, highlights a style that whilst different displays enough similarities for us to be able to identify it as a work by Yang Shu-huang. The artist’s stylistic transformation can be likened to the formation and change of personality and character. This is indeed a natural product, originating in the interaction of artist and medium, style and representational elements.

Objective in the Paintings of Yang Shu-huang
As with most orthodox artists, Yang’s works relate to the various elements of painting, including stylistic factors and materials. Through his oil paintings, the artist reinvents these objects and this infuses the combinations of elements with a life of their own. This refers not to the objective properties of the elements but rather to their phenomenological properties – their existence being determined by the life-oriented interaction of Yang Shu-huang and his painting. These works can be seen as the direct result of the artist’s personal growth and development through life. They are not only a sensitive and concrete expression of minute differences in color and light, but also represent qualitative changes in the personal life of the artist himself. In each piece Yang not only shows his awareness of more different things, but also infuses them with different meaning. It is as part of this process of artistic realization that his whole life has changed.

As Nigel Wentworth has suggested, the objective behind the way an artist uses his or her materials, stylistic and representational elements, represents an attempt to infuse painting with vitality. Such a result cannot be predicted as it comes about only as part of the creative process. Strictly speaking, Yang Shu-huang did not set out to paint ordinary “paintings” or special oil paintings, but to realize a certain artistic style. It was with this purpose in mind that he chose the medium of oil painting, realist stylistic elements and scenes from daily life such as street vistas, bucolic views, bridges, birdcages, potted plants, orchards, flocks of sheep etc. At the same time, his use of such elements strives to bring his creative work to life.

The “world” made concrete in the works of Yang Shu-hua only truly comes to life through the painting. In that sense, it is more accurate to say that the world is expressed through the work rather than that the artist seeks to “re-present” a world he sees before him. In other words, as with all other artists, there are certain painting elements that Yang prefers to work with and a set style in which he chooses to employ them. These elements and style express the life of the artist and the methods he employs to realize his ideals. In this way, the unity and consistency we see in Yang’s painting can be understood as simultaneously possessing “external material form” (the materials he uses to paint) and reflecting the nature of the his own life (his painting form).

After Yang Shu-huang returned to Taiwan to live in the 1990’s, his painting style clearly changed, a switch n focus that can still be traced back to its origins and was not simply copied from the style of someone else. This change is important in as much as it stems from a personal redefinition of life, and the beginning of a new lifestyle. Such a repositioning of the artist’s own life led naturally to a corresponding change in the way he used stylistic language in his paintings.

For the painter, when he uses the materials at hand an imaginary world slowly takes shape before his eyes and he starts to inhabit the world he paints. In this sense, the existence of the artist takes on a new and yet not entirely clear visage that is realized only incrementally. In order to adapt to this new and imaginary painting world, it may be necessary for the artist to change his materials and use stylistic elements that differ from those of the past. But, in order to achieve this he must physically transform from one existential form to another. To begin with the new type of artistic expressionism is often clumsy, making it hard to know how to continue. However, with the passing of time the artist forces himself to adapt to the new materials and learn how to optimize their potential. In this way, Yang Shu-huang gradually discovered how to realize himself in this new artistic form. The new stylistic journey on which he departed after returning to Taiwan can perhaps best be understood as a change in lifestyle – Facing the reactions stimulated by a different life environment and new social identity. At present, Yang has already adapted to the new materials and techniques and started to explore their potential scope.

Redefining Innovation
The creative evolution that Yang Shu-huang has experienced showcases a common phenomenon in the field of Taiwanese art history, namely that when combining painting materials, stylistic and representational elements, some painters appear unable to infuse their work with “innovativeness.” Certainly, earlier generations of painters tended to stick with oil painting their whole life, utilizing the style of the Waiguang School to depict landscapes or still life pieces. Avant-garde art finds it hard to understand the popularity of works by artists who are not “innovative.” This strange phenomenon violates the basic spirit of Avant-garde art, but as a real phenomenon it is very much worthy of further discussion.

“Innovation” does not appear out of thin air, representing as it does a rupture between past and present. In truth, it is not difficult to understand the oil paintings of Yang Shu-huang, but to fully grasp their import and their ultimate value we need to reconsider the true meaning of painting. How many renowned painters has Taiwan had since the period of Japanese rule whose creative method was not the same as that of Yang Shu-huang? Since the mid-1950’s how many artists have declared themselves modernists and how many painters have successfully been able to avoid such pigeonholing? These styles are solid with changes that can be traced back to their origins. Artists not only paint from the soul, they are also more likely to think of themselves as being at one with the world within which they live and create artistic work. Art is a real, tangible, concrete reality not a vehicle for the presentation of ideals, something with form but no substance. Yang Shu-huang’s oil paintings allow us to reflect on the original function of art as a potent symbol of human existence.

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摘自楊樹煌畫冊，2007，南畫廊