This year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the birth of the senior artist Shen Zhezai. The Tainan National Art Museum Preparatory Office launched the "Brushwork Spring and Autumn - Shen Zhezai's 100th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition" with the opening ceremony today (13th). The exhibition brings together more than 25 public and private art museums, cultural institutions and private collections, and displays more than 120 original works, precious documents and personal items. Some works have been made public for the first time. It also recreates Shen Zhezai's studio in Japan in his later years, leading the audience into the artist's creative life from painting, life to family memories.
The exhibition covers important series such as nudes, portraits, landscapes, flowers and ballets, presenting Shen Zhezai's delicate and distinctive artistic style. Zhuang Peihua, Director of the Preparatory Office of the Tainan National Art Museum, said that Shen Zhezai is not only the "light of Tainan", but also the pride of Taiwan's art world. Whether it is daily landscapes, female portraits or Parisian dancers, he can show his love for life through delicate brushwork and keen observation.
Shi Xiaomo, the curatorial representative, said that after more than a year of research and preparation, the team inventoried and recorded more than 2,000 oil paintings, more than 800 pastel works and a large number of manuscripts. Many of the exhibits came from private collections and were loaned from the living rooms, stairs and study rooms of the collectors' homes. It was rare for them to be exhibited to the public for the first time, and the artist's creative context was reorganized through systematic research.
Deputy Director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau Lin Weixu quoted the late artist Chen Huidong's description of Shen Zhezai as "chic and romantic", affirming that the women and Tainan scenery in his paintings not only display classical beauty, but also contain deep emotions for his hometown. The exhibition not only reviews an artist's century-old life, but also reflects the development of modern and contemporary art in Taiwan.
Shen Zhezai’s landscape paintings record the footsteps of life from his hometown to a foreign country. As early as 1943, familiar scenes such as the Minglun Hall of the Tainan Confucius Temple can be seen in the works. Since the 1980s, with the increase in travel opportunities, the creative scenes have gradually expanded to include monuments, churches, ports and castles in various countries. Figure paintings capture the rhythm of the human body through natural postures such as sitting, leaning, squatting, and turning around, without deliberately modifying the body shape, showing a unique perspective of observation.
Shen Zhezai uses bright colors and gorgeous tones, and was once hailed as a "color magician" by his students. Among them, the ballet series originated from the family memory of his daughter learning to dance, which allowed him to observe the postures of dancers for a long time and transform life experience into artistic themes; the flower works show a rich and unrestrained style.
The exhibition specially reconstructs Shen Zhezai's studio in Japan in his later years, and combines family images, documents and personal belongings to present the life trajectory behind the works. Shengbao Company also sponsored 15 large-scale screens, which use digital images to amplify the brushstrokes, colors and details of the paintings, allowing the audience to experience the charm of art from different scales.
The 100th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition of Shen Zhezai is on view from now until April 18 next year (2027). For details, please visit the official website or Facebook page of the Tainan National Art Museum Preparatory Office.
