EXHIBITED:
Three Masters of Art: Calligraphy and Ink Paintings by Yu Chen-yao, Shen Yao-chu, and Zhen Shan-xi, National Museum of History, Taipei, December 20, 2013-February 23, 2014

ILLUSTRATED:
Three Masters of Art: Calligraphy and Ink Paintings by Yu Chen-yao, Shen Yao-chu, and Zhen Shan-xi, National Museum of History, Taipei, 2013, color illustrated, p. 73

Taiwanese composer, Dr. Liang Mingyue, once put forward the idea that the multi-layered effect is an extremely fascinating feature in Yu Cheng-yao's style of landscapes and he holds the view that this effect originated from Nanguan's multi-linear ensemble structure. Yu Cheng-yao's paintings are not without logical structures and coherence. A layered and multi-linear musical variety, it is possessive of unique charms. Therefore, he believes that Yu Cheng-yao's landscapes are full of transformations and ever changing, where no two similar mountains and rivers are to be found. Art historians categorized Yu Cheng-yao's works into three periods, The Early Period, The Mature Period and The Late Period; Ni Tsai-chin, on the other hand, divided Yu Cheng-yao's Chinese ink paintings into three periods namely, Modest, Remarkable and Imposing to Solid and Substantial, Depressed and Gloomy back to Young and Awkward.

Yu Cheng-yao often practiced standard script, cursive script when he was teenager, and it was the reason why he wrote beautiful calligraphies; he was fond of reciting and writing poems as well, and was regarded as an artist with profound humanistic thoughts. He left the world with valuable cultural heritages when passed away in 1993, as the music theory of Nanguan music, documents, and natural, unrestrained calligraphy works, as well as the unique Chinese ink and color paintings. The emergence of Yu Cheng-yao was called a legend by the art circle. Painting brought him reputations, but he treated the fame and fortune as floating clouds. The noble sentiments that he still led a simple life as usual are admirable. In the course of the art exploration, his motto is “painting for real could only gain its essence.”