PRINTCatalogue Note:
In the development of contemporary Taiwanese oil painting, the art of realistic oil paintings has evolved over time and has continually changed according to the social environment. As realistic oil painters advanced themselves throughout this period, they integrated their personal experiences into their works to express their feelings of the outer and inner world. Artists use the external world to examine their internal feelings and then bring these feelings to life through their paintings. With his unique and precise use of colors, Tzuchi Yeh illustrates his turbulent nostalgia on the canvas, forming his own exclusive artistic language while sharing genuine feelings with his audience.
Emanating strong classical ambience, Yeh’s realistic paintings reveal their unique aesthetic charm through their composition by reflecting their contemporary environments. All of Yeh’s work reflect deep retrospection: from his earliest realistic paintings of soldiers honoring his father, who was a soldier in the Burmese military, still-life flower paintings dedicated to his mother who passed away suddenly, to his numerous contemporary Taiwan landscape paintings based upon his views of the natural scenery of Taiwan. The artist digs out his nostalgia from the bottom of his heart and expresses it through his work without any reservation. In addition to his compositions full of the contemporary spirit, both Yeh’s still life and landscape paintings reveal portrait-like ambience. The piece, Pigeon in San Francisco, is one of the only two paintings of pigeons by Yeh. The Minoan civilization of the island of Crete regards pigeons as a representation of mother goddess nurturing the earth. This piece was created in 1995 after Yeh’s mother passed away. Deriving inspiration from portrait painting, Yeh transcribed the pigeon in front of him into the center of the painting, making it appear human. The pigeon gazes at viewer, revealing a sense of homesickness in its small eyes, a feeling of melancholy said to reflect the grief of Yeh losing mother. Based on the rule of thirds and painted with a silent, black background, the painting expresses a direct but reserved emotion—the artist’s lingering feelings for his hometown. In Greek mythology, pigeons represent divine powers of message delivery and fortune telling. Like a messenger for Zeus, the pigeon in this painting expresses the artist’s inner feelings.
Emanating strong classical ambience, Yeh’s realistic paintings reveal their unique aesthetic charm through their composition by reflecting their contemporary environments. All of Yeh’s work reflect deep retrospection: from his earliest realistic paintings of soldiers honoring his father, who was a soldier in the Burmese military, still-life flower paintings dedicated to his mother who passed away suddenly, to his numerous contemporary Taiwan landscape paintings based upon his views of the natural scenery of Taiwan. The artist digs out his nostalgia from the bottom of his heart and expresses it through his work without any reservation. In addition to his compositions full of the contemporary spirit, both Yeh’s still life and landscape paintings reveal portrait-like ambience. The piece, Pigeon in San Francisco, is one of the only two paintings of pigeons by Yeh. The Minoan civilization of the island of Crete regards pigeons as a representation of mother goddess nurturing the earth. This piece was created in 1995 after Yeh’s mother passed away. Deriving inspiration from portrait painting, Yeh transcribed the pigeon in front of him into the center of the painting, making it appear human. The pigeon gazes at viewer, revealing a sense of homesickness in its small eyes, a feeling of melancholy said to reflect the grief of Yeh losing mother. Based on the rule of thirds and painted with a silent, black background, the painting expresses a direct but reserved emotion—the artist’s lingering feelings for his hometown. In Greek mythology, pigeons represent divine powers of message delivery and fortune telling. Like a messenger for Zeus, the pigeon in this painting expresses the artist’s inner feelings.