Wu Long-Rong (1935-)

Oil Painting

1991

Length:60.5 x Width:72.5 (cm)

This white house was built by a student of Dr. George Leslie Mackay in 1875. It was once one of the most luxurious residences in Tamsui, as well as one of this artist's favorite Tamsui buildings. After passing through several hands, it was demolished in 1992 to make room for new condominiums. It is only possible to revisit this site through images such as this one. The artist purposefully occupied half of the canvas with red brick wall and luxuriant growth of trees as the foreground. The white house, although the subject, lies partially concealed in the background. Viewers must allow their eyes to follow the path until this elegant structure appears. This gives this scene a feeling of loneliness and isolation.
Wu completed this work at the age of 56, one year before this structure was torn down. It is a beautiful record of this historical building. Wu divided up this scene, creating three-dimensional spaces on a two-dimensional canvas. In doing so, he re-created the elegance of Tamsui's small town lanes.

Accession number:A0146