Huang Tu-shui
黃土水
Born3 July 1895
Wanhua, Taihoku, Japanese Taiwan
Died21 December 1930(1930-12-21) (aged 35)
Japan
Other namesN̂g Thô͘-chúi
OccupationSculptor

Huang Tu-shui (Chinese: 黃土水; pinyin: Huáng Tǔshuǐ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: N̂g Thô͘-chúi; 1895–1930) was a pioneer of modern sculpture in Taiwan.[1] From his youth, Huang was familiar with the traditional carving of Taiwan, and was influenced by modern Western styles during his studies in Tokyo.

Biography

Huang's last and most famous work, The Water Buffalo (水牛群像; Shuǐniú Qúnxiàng, 1930). Plaster cast, located in Taipei's Zhongshan Hall

Huang was born on 3 July 1895 in Mengjia (a.k.a. Manka), Taipei City, now known as Wanhua, and his father was a rickshaw repairman.[2] Huang's eldest brother had already died by the time he was born.[3] Huang's elder surviving brother took up their father's trade, and inspired young Huang to sculpt.[4] Huang's father died when Huang was twelve, and the family moved to Dadaocheng.[3] He was a student at Da Daocheng Elementary School, now called Taiping Elementary School.[5] Huang was trained in Tokyo, and later worked there, when Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire.[6] During Huang's time in Japan, he was mentored by sculptor Fumio Asakura.[7] Six months after graduating from school, he was sponsored by a Taiwan Governor-General official to study carving at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.[2] He was the first Taiwanese student to attend the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and also the first Taiwanese artist to be participate in the Imperial Art Exhibition of Japan (帝展, Teiten).[8][9] He submitted the sculpture (Bust of a) Girl into the exhibition, and later donated the work to Taiping Elementary School in Taipei.[10][11]

During the last decade of his life, the focus of his works shifted more and more to local Taiwanese motifs, with Huang showing a particular taste for depicting water buffalo, a symbol of rural Taiwan. These works blended modern Western style with traditional Chinese elements. He died on 26 December 1930 in Japan, at the age of 36, after contracting peritonitis.[5][12]

Huang is best known for his mural South Land, also known as Water Buffalo, which was completed just before his death. The work is on permanent display at Zhongshan Hall in Taipei, and Taiwanese writer Zhang zhao Xuan has described it as 'a national treasure'.[13]

Selected works

  • Teijiro Yamamoto (early work, plaster), a bust of Japanese politician Teijiro Yamamoto, kept in subject's birthplace, Sado, Niigata.[14] Lent to National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts for restoration and reproduction.[15][16] A bronze version was made and displayed at Kaohsiung Bridge until it also went to Sado at the end of World War II.[17]
  • Li Tieguai (李鐵拐; Lǐ Tiěguǎi, 1915), wooden figure depicting the Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Immortals in the Daoist religion.
  • The Chubby Playing Boy (山童吹笛; Shāntóng Chuī Guǎi, 1918), plaster figure, original lost today. Recorded in the 1920 Imperial Exhibition.[18]
  • Water of Immortality,[19] formerly Sweet Dew (甘露水; Gān Lùshuǐ, 1919), marble figure. Recorded in the imperial exhibition in 1921.[20] Rediscovered by Lin Mun-lee in 2021, after the work had been lost fifty years previously.[21][22]
  • Bust of a Girl (女孩胸像; Nǚhái Xiōngxiàng, 1920), gift of the artist to his old elementary school (Taiping Elementary School in Taipei).[23]
  • Posing Woman (擺姿勢的女人; Bǎi Zīshì de Nǚrén, 1922), original lost today. Recorded in the 1922 Imperial Exhibition.
  • Mikadofasan and Sikahirsch (帝雉, 華鹿; Dìzhì Huálù, 1922), a gift to the Japanese imperial house, now in the imperial court office of Tokyo.
  • In the Country (郊外; Jiāowài, 1924), bronze sculpture of a water buffalo with two herons, original lost today. Recorded in the 1924 Imperial Exhibition.
  • Sculpture created to commemorate Crown Prince Hirohito's 1923 visit to Taiwan, given to him as a gift.[24]
  • In the South (南國的風情; Nánguó de Fēngqíng, 1927). Relief of a water buffalo herd, original lost today.
  • The Buddha Comes from the Mountains (釋迦出山; Shìjiā Chū Shān, 1927). Commissioned on behalf of Taipei's Lungshan Temple, a wooden sculpture representing Gautama Buddha. Destroyed by an air raid during World War II, later reconstructed using a remaining plaster design. Copies can be also found in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Taipei National History Museum, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei's Lungshan Temple, Tainan's Kaiyuan Temple, and with the artist's family.
  • Busy Portrait of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi and His Wife (邇宮邦彥親王夫婦像; Ĕr Gōng Bāngyàn Fūfù Xiàng, 1928). Owned by the Japanese emperor.
  • Bust of Tomoe Takagi (1929). Commissioned in 1929 by Taiwan Electricity Company executive Hayanosuke Nagata for Tomoe Takagi[25] Donated to National Changhua Senior High School in 2015 by the widow of Takagi's grandson.[26][27]
  • The Water Buffalo (水牛群像; Shuǐniú Qúnxiàng, 1930). Plaster cast, last and most famous work of the artist.[5] The original is located in Taipei's Zhongshan Hall, with copies in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (bronze cast).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. 1 2 "A Portrait of Taiwanese Figures in the Japanese Colonial Period". Digital Taiwan. Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Taiwan's First Sculpture Artist | Huang Tu-shui". Ministry of Culture. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Chin, Jonathan (19 September 2015). "Sculpture exhibition held to honor artistic masters". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Portrait of Water Buffalo – A Brief Introduction". Taipei Zhongshan Hall. English.zsh.gov.taipei. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Michael Sullivan (3 April 2006). Modern Chinese Artists: A Biographical Dictionary. University of California Press. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-0-520-24449-8.
  7. ↑ Lin, Tsui-yi; Chung, Jake (22 November 2018). "Calligrapher tapped as Taketa City ambassador". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Han Cheung (15 December 2019). "Taiwan in Time: A visionary of 'Formosan Art'". Taipei Times. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  9. ↑ "日本統治時代の彫刻家・黄土水の作品、里帰りが実現". Taiwan Today (in Japanese). 26 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "「台湾のヴィーナス」発見！半世紀ぶりに『甘露水』が日の目". Taiwan Today (in Japanese). 15 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "Redrawing the Past". Taiwan Today. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  12. ↑ Chin, Jonathan (19 September 2015). "Sculpture exhibition held to honor artistic masters – Taipei Times". Taipei Times. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "【人心人術】 一生傳奇，台灣第一位雕塑家黃土水 | 想想論壇". ThinkingTaiwan.com (in Chinese). Little English Education Foundation. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  14. ↑ Hsiao, Sherry (25 January 2021). "Bust made by Taiwanese sculptor arrives from Japan". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "Sculpture by Taiwanese artist to return home from Japan for restoration". Ministry of Culture. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  16. ↑ "National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts to exhibit sculpture by Huang Tu-shui loaned from Japan". Ministry of Culture. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  17. ↑ Hetherington, William (27 October 2020). "Art from colonial era returns from Japan for repair". Taipei Times.
  18. ↑ "黃土水/水牛群像/台灣日治時代雕塑家黃土水於1930年所完成之創作，是臺灣美術史上相當知名的經典傑作之一/文建會（今文化部）公告登錄為國寶，也是目前國寶名錄中第一件年代屬於二十世紀的作品 @ 姜朝鳳宗族 :: 痞客邦 ::". 姜朝鳳宗族 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Jiang Taigong Temple. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  19. ↑ Wang, Ken (16 December 2021). "Long-lost nude sculpture to head cultural movement exhibition". Central News Agency. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  20. ↑ "黃土水" [Honeydew (1919)]. Taiwan Online Art Museum (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  21. ↑ Wang, Ken (15 October 2021). "Long-lost iconic nude sculpture to be displayed in Taipei". Central News Agency. Retrieved 19 October 2021. Republished as: "Long-lost Huang Tu-shui sculpture to go on display". Taipei Times. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  22. ↑ "蔡総統が「台湾文化協会」創設から百年の活動に出席、「『世界の台湾』のため団結を」". Taiwan Today (in Japanese). 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  23. ↑ 民間藝術綜合論壇論文集: 民間藝術保存傳習計畫綜合論壇 : 界限的穿透 (in Chinese). National Center for Traditional Arts. 2005. pp. 301–. ISBN 978-986-00-1998-8.
  24. ↑ Han Cheung (15 April 2018). "Taiwan in Time: Catering to royal blood". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  25. ↑ Tseng, Wei-chen; Chung, Jake (4 November 2013). "Historically significant statue heads back to Taiwan". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  26. ↑ Lin, Tsuei-yi; Hsiao, Sherry (27 April 2018). "School receives bust by Huang Tu-shui". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  27. ↑ "彰化高校、童謡『赤とんぼ』で日本の貴重な文物受ける". Taiwan Today (in Japanese). 30 April 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
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