Author:Chiang Jui-keng(1922-2007)
Category：Oil Painting
Media:Oil on canvas
Year：1989
Size description：45×52.6cm
Introduction：Chiang Jui-keng painted this work featuring miners. The artist started working at the mine in 1939, and had worked there for several decades until he officially retired in the 1980s. Afterwards, he held his first solo painting exhibition at an art gallery in 1986, before embarking on a trip to tour Europe and China. However, Chiang never stopped painting mines as his subject matter. This painting is composed predominantly of blue and black, and depicts two “miner friends” working diligently underground. The dim light cast on their robust bodies reveals a bleak gray-white color. The miners have helmets on their heads, and towels draping over their shoulders. Around them, the dark tunnel was painted with powerful and swirling brushstrokes to portray the rough, solid rocky surface of the mine. At the same time, the intense brushstrokes also convey the harsh reality of the miners’ difficult working environment.
Author Introduction：「Chiang Jui-keng」-Born in Ruifang, New Taipei City, Taiwan, Chiang came from a family of miners. After graduating from the advanced course at Ruifang Public School, he worked at a coal mine owned by his half-uncle Ni Chiang-huai. In 1940, he studied at the Kawabata School of Painting in Tokyo but returned to mining in 1942. Chiang’s works, influenced by French painters, featured bold brushstrokes portraying miners’ lives and postures, alongside landscapes of his hometown.
Accession number:20210047