Tsai Shiue-Shi (

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: 蔡雪溪, 1884—?), born during the Japanese colonial period in the

Wanhua District Wanhua District (), known in Taiwanese Hokkien as Báng-kah khu () and historically as "Monga" or "Monka", is a district in Taipei, Taiwan. It is Taipei's oldest district. The district is home to historic buildings such as the Bangka Lungs ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, was a painter originally named Tsai Rong-Kuan (蔡榮寬). He was a prominent professional artist in the early 20th century, actively contributing to the art scene in northern Taiwan.

Life

Tsai Shiue-Shi graduated from elementary school in the 34th year of the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

(1901) and worked in various government offices such as the special sales office and the railway department. Apart from self-study in painting, he also learned painting from his colleague at the railway department, Kawada Sumiho (川田墨鳳). In the 9th year of the Taisho era (1920), he moved to

Dadaocheng Dadaocheng is an area in Datong District, Taipei, Taiwan. It was also known as Twatutia (a transliteration of the Taiwanese Hokkien ''Tuā-tiū-tiânn''), Daitōtei during Japanese rule, and Tataocheng (Mandarin) during the Kuomintang era. ...

and opened a framing studio called " Shiue-Shi Painting Studio (雪溪畫館)" across from the Yongle Market (永樂市場). With numerous students, he gained fame for his disciples, particularly Guo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖, originally named Guo Jinhuo, 郭金火) and Ren Ruiyao (任瑞堯). The artistic names " Shiue-hu " and " Shiue-ya" (雪涯) in the art world were given by Tsai Shiue-Shi. Specializing in traditional deity painting,

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

, and framing, Tsai Shiue-Shi was actively involved in poetry societies like the Cuiyingyin Society (萃英吟社), contributing to expanding his patronage sources. Besides Taipei, he held art exhibitions in places like

Hsinchu Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inhabitants. Hsinchu is a coastal city bordering the Taiwan ...

and

Chiayi Chiayi (,), officially known as Chiayi City, is a Provincial city (Taiwan), city located in Chianan Plain in Regions of Taiwan, southwestern Taiwan, surrounded by Chiayi County with a population of 263,188 inhabitants as of January 2023. The H ...

. Between 1931 and 1933, he traveled to southern

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for sketching. Before departure, he even organized special sales of his works to fund his trips. His paintings were frequently selected for the Taiwan Art Exhibition (known as “Taiten”, 臺展) and the Taiwan Viceroy Art Exhibition (known as “Futen”, 府展). In the 11th year of the Showa era (1936), he established the "New Oriental Painting Research Association" (新東洋畫研究會) in Taipingting (太平町).

Artistic Creation

Tsai Shiue-Shi's creative subjects were diverse, initially focusing on traditional Chinese ink styles depicting figures, flowers and birds, and

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

to meet the demands of the traditional painting market. Later, in pursuit of recognition at official art exhibitions such as the Taiwan Art Exhibition and the Taiwan Viceroy Art Exhibition, Tsai Shiue-Shi's artistic style shifted towards a characteristic of lifelike and meticulous realism based on sketches. This transformation aimed to align with the emphasized themes of local color and sketching in official art exhibitions. His selected gouache paintings showcased a blend of modern sketching concepts with the cultural and local life of Taiwan.{{Cite web , author= , title=國美典藏蔡雪溪 , url=https://ntmofa-collections.ntmofa.gov.tw/AuthorData.aspx?AID=M10BMG , archive-url= , archive-date= , access-date=2023-12-15 , website=National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Collection , publisher= However, to make a living, he concurrently continued producing traditional ink paintings of flowers, birds, and landscapes to meet the prevailing demands of the painting market. Among these, his traditional ink paintings of

peonies The peony or paeony () is any flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'', the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. Peonies are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguishe ...

became particularly renowned.

References

Taiwanese artists 1884 births Chinese painters Nihonga painters Year of death missing