PROVENANCE:
Collection of former Director of the Shiy De-jinn Foundation (acquired directly from the artist)

The most attractive feature of Shiy De-jinn's later works is probably the faint marine blue, an elegant, pure blue that strikes directly at the viewer's heart. It quietly exudes a sense of disquiet that stops the passerby in their tracks and encourages them to look closely at the painting. This particular work, "Mountain Valley" was painted in 1981, and was one of the last works that Shiy finished before his death. The painting employs Western-style perspective in its composition, reflecting the fact that, while carrying on the Chinese aesthetic tradition, Shiy De-jinn continued to make use of the skills he had acquired during the period he spent studying in Europe as a young man. Shiy's misty, opaque painting style incorporates the impressionistic brushwork of traditional Chinese ink brush painting, while giving the brushstrokes something of the power and vigor of calligraphy, creating an innovative new way of painting.

The overall feeling that the painting gives the viewer is that the artist was seeking to make full use of the little time remaining to him, depicting the mountain landscape in a reverent, almost worshipful manner. Precisely because Shiy was so deeply engrossed in the work, he seems to have been able to "hear" the sorrowful call of the hills and the low sobbing of the rivers, and to perceive that unique blue tone's presence amidst the mist that lies between the mountain peaks. This is a sad, mournful blue which, unlike the traditional ink tones of Chinese ink brush painting, or the verdant greens of many landscape paintings, reveals the artist's sorrow at saying goodbye to this beautiful mountain scenery. As Shiy himself put it, "My landscapes use the tools of Western watercolor painting to bring across East Asian emotions, and to interpret nature in a new way; my use of color has become a new way of ‘playing' with Chinese ink brush painting to create a sense of newness and vitality ." The ink tones and colors in Shiy's paintings both contrast and fuse with one another, sometimes drawing on aspects of the Chinese literati painting tradition, and sometimes incorporating the rich colors of Chinese folk art. In this way, Shiy succeeds in giving a contemporary feel to his depictions of the sub-tropical colors of Taiwan's landscape.