Eastern Gouache

Length:41 x Width:32 (cm)

Accession Number：20170300120

Lin Po-Shou (1911-2009, Shengang, Taichung) was the elder brother of renowned traditional painting artist Lin Chih-Chu (1917-2008). In 1931, he was admitted to the Department of Oriental Painting at the Imperial Art School of Japan (now Musashino Art University), and returned to Taiwan in 1939. In 1941, his work Embroidery was selected as a Special Prize winner at the Taiwan Government-General Fine Arts Exhibition (Futen), followed by another Special Prize for Water Lilies the next year. Due to illness, he temporarily gave up painting and worked in government service, only returning to artistic creation in 1990.
This work depicts a Cattleya orchid. Lin Po-Shou used yellow, green, and white gouache pigments in layered applications to create gradient hues in the petals, capturing the flower in full bloom. The orchid’s slender leaves are deep green on the front and lighter on the back, with graceful, twisting forms that convey a lush, dynamic vitality. The flower’s vibrant red lip contrasts strikingly with the soft, elegant tones of the petals and leaves, highlighting the orchid’s refined beauty. Though the artist outlined the forms with white gouache, this technique does not detract from the realism. Instead, it enhances the sense of freshness, making the flower’s vitality leap off the paper.