Huang Tu-shui

Huang Tu-shui (Chinese: 黃土水; 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. These include the works that were included in the Japanese Imperial Exhibition of 1922, such as Mountain Child Playing Flute.[2] He also went by the names Huáng Tǔshuǐ, Pe̍h-oē-jī, Ng Thóo-Suí.

Biography

Huang was born on 3rd July 1895 in Mengjia (a.k.a. Manka), Taipei City, now known as Wanchua, and his father was a rickshaw repairman.[3] He was a student at Da Daocheng Elementary School, now called Taiping Elementary School.[2] Huang was trained in Tokyo, and later worked there, when Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire.[4] 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.[3]

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 buffaloes, a symbol of rural Taiwan. These works blended modern Western style with traditional Chinese elements. He died on 26 December 1930, at the age of 36, after contracting Peritonitis.[2]

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'.[5]

Selected works

  • Li Tieguai (李鐵拐, 1915), wooden figure in traditional style depicting the Daoist immortal Li Tieguai, now in private ownership.
  • The chubby playing boy (山童吹笛 Shantong chui di, 1918), plaster figure, original lost today. Recorded in the 1920 Imperial Exhibition.[6]
  • Sweet dew (甘露水 Ganlushui, 1919), marble figure, original lost today. Recorded in the imperial exhibition in 1921.[7]
  • Bust of a girl (女孩胸像 Nühai xiongxiang, 1920), gift of the artist to his old elementary school (today: Taiping Elementary School in Taipei), preserved to this day.[8]
  • Posing Woman (擺姿勢的女人 Bai zishi de nüren, 1922), original, lost today. Adopted in the Imperial Exhibition 1922.
  • Mikadofasan and Sikahirsch (帝雉, 華鹿 Dizhi hualu, 1922), a gift to the Japanese imperial house, now in the imperial court office of Tokyo.
  • In the country (郊外 Jiaowai, 1924), bronze sculpture of a water buffalo with two herons, original lost today. Recorded in the imperial exhibition in 1924.
  • In the south (南國的風情 Nanguo de fengqing, 1927). Relief of a water buffalo herd, original lost today.
  • The Buddha comes from the mountains (釋迦出山 Shijia chu shan, 1927). On behalf of the Longshan Temple Taipeh, made wooden sculpture representing Siddharta Gautama . In the Second World War destroyed by an air attack, later reconstructed using the remaining plaster design. Copies can be found in Taipei National Art Museum , Taipei Municipal Art Museum , Kaohsiung City Art Museum , Taipei National History Museum, *Longshan Temple (Taipei), Kaiyuan Temple (Tainan), and the artist's family.
  • Busy portrait of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi and his wife (邇宮邦彥親王夫婦像 Jiung Gong Bangyan fufu xiang, 1928). Owned by the Japanese emperor
  • The Water Buffalo (水牛群像 Shuiniu qunxiang, 1930), Gipsrelief, last and most famous work of the artist, as National treasure of the Republic of China. The original is located in the Zhongshan Hall in Taipei, copies of the National Art Museum of Taiwan , the Taipei Municipal Art Museum, and the Kaohsiung Municipal Art Museum (bronze cast).

References

  1. ↑ http://counseling.osa.ncku.edu.tw/ezfiles/63/1063/img/873/yew.pdf
  2. 1 2 3 "The Portrait of Water Buffalo – A Brief Introduction". Taipei Zhongshan Hall. English.zsh.gov.taipei. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  3. 1 2 "A Portrait of Taiwanese Figures in the Japanese Colonial Period". Digital Taiwan. Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program. 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  4. ↑ Michael Sullivan (3 April 2006). Modern Chinese Artists: A Biographical Dictionary. University of California Press. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-0-520-24449-8.
  5. ↑ "【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. 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  6. ↑ http://nicecasio.pixnet.net/blog/post/437270821-黃土水-水牛群像-台灣日治時代雕塑家黃土水
  7. ↑ http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/fineart/painter-tw/huangtushui/huangtushui-08.htm
  8. ↑ 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.
  • Huang Tu-Shui Gallery
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