ZHONG CHENG

Born in Chiayi, Taiwan. Chen studied at the Teaching Department of the Taipei Japanese School in 1931 and started to explore Western art under Kinichiro Ishikawa’s instruction(1871-1945). In 1923, Chen went to Japan and studied at the Tokyo Fine Art Institute where he became the first Taiwanese artist whose works was accepted into the Imperial College of Fine Arts. In honor of his recognition as a modernist oil painter, he was invited in 1929 to be one of the judges for the very First National Art Exhibition that included a large number of works in what was described as “the Western style”. In 1931, one of his paintings “The Brook” was selected to participate in The Chicago World Trade Fair. After the war began in 1932, Chen returned to Taiwan in 1933. Chen co-founded The Taiyang Fine Atrs Association in 1934. Chen devoted himself to painting until his death in 1947. In 1979, his first retrospective was shown in Taipei. Chen’s two major memorial exhibitions were held in 1992 and 1994 respectively.