Taiwan's Key Artists from Ishikawa Kinichiro to Tehching Hsieh

A look at prominent Taiwanese artists from the 20th and 21st centuries highlights the island's rich artistic legacy amid ongoing geopolitical challenges. Ishikawa Kinichiro (1871-1945) was instrumental in establishing modern art education in Taiwan, serving as a teacher at Taipei University and initiating the Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition. His pupil, Ni Chiang-huai, produced Taiwan's inaugural watercolor painting during the 1920s-30s. Tan Teng-po (1895-1947) became the first Taiwanese artist to be showcased in Japan at the 1926 Imperial Art Exhibition. Notable contemporary figures include Wu Tien-Chang (born 1956), Chin Chih Yang, Kuo-Chin Chiu, Lee Kuei-Chih, Lien Chien Hsing, Ya-chu Kang, Liping Ting, and Tehching Hsieh, who represented Taiwan at the Venice Biennale in 2015 and 2017.