Craft

Length:46.1 x Width:37.1 (cm)

Wang Ching-Shuang (b. 1922, Shengang, Taichung) enrolled in the Taichung Craft School at the age of 15, where he was mentored by Yamaka Osamu (1886-1949), a pioneer of Taiwan’s Penglai lacquerware. With Yamaka’s support, he went on to study lacquer art and painting at the Tokyo Fine Arts School in Japan. Upon returning to Taiwan, he began teaching and, at the invitation of Yen Shui-Long (1903-1997), joined efforts in handicraft development. He later established the Nantou Craft Research Class in Caotun, Nantou (now the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute), where he focused on producing functional lacquerware. In his later years, Wang dedicated himself to creating lacquer paintings. He received the National Craft Achievement Award and was officially recognized as a preserver of lacquer craft.
Queen of the Night is a lacquer painting that depicts an epiphyllum flower blooming under moonlight. The drooping posture of the flower and leaves gives the composition a sense of languid grace and rustic charm. The background wooden board is coated in black lacquer, with transparent lacquer used to outline the stems, leaves, and flower buds. Gold and silver powders enhance the contours of the foliage and the soft glow of the moon in the background. The lower-right corner of the painting is inlaid with delicate bits of raden (mother-of-pearl), resembling the moon’s shimmering reflection on water and highlighting the flower’s elegance and grandeur. For decades, Wang Ching-Shuang has grown epiphyllum flowers at home as subjects for sketching and painting, embodying his lifelong commitment to observation from life and artistic creation.

Accession number:20170300182