Kuo Hsueh-Hu(1908-2012)

Mixed Media

2014

Length:163.8 x Width:81.5 (cm)

In 1930, at the age of 22, Kuo‘s Nihonga work Festival on South Street won the 4th annual Taiwan Art Exhibition (Taiten) award. This artist was innovative in shifting line of sight. He portrayed a festive scene from the Zhongyuan ghost Festival in his hometown of Dadaocheng, Taipei. Attention is first drawn to the entrance of the Cheng Huang (city god) Temple with people dressed in different attire attending the festivities. Then, the eye moves toward the multitude of creative shop signs. Dihua Street in the 1930s was lined with multi-story buildings with Baroque architectural features such as arcaded windows, parapets and gables.
The original work is in the collection of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Authorization was given by the Kuo Hsueh-Hu Foundation to publish digital fine arts prints of Festival on South Street, and this digital reproduction was given to the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines by East Gallery. This painting contains a diversity of cultural and esthetic elements including urban architecture, folk festival, clothing and advertising design. It not only solidified his position as one of the three youths of the Taiwan Art Exhibition, but is one of the most studied paintings in Taiwan's art history.

Accession Number:E0011