Draft:Chen Hsia-Yu

Chen Hsia-Yu (July 8, 1917 – January 3, 2000) was a Taiwanese modern sculptor. He was born in Longjing Township, Dajia County, Taichung State (now Longjing District, Taichung City). He learned sculpture from Fujii Kooyu who encouraged Chen to take part in the Shinbunten (previously the Teiten). Chen’s works had been selected for the Shinbunten three times in a row, followed by the honor of jury exemption bestowed on him. Chen was a founding member of the sculpture department of the Tai Yang Art Association, a jury member of the Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition, and a teacher at Taichung Normal School. Later, he withdrew from the art association, and resigned from the teaching post and the jury. He kept creating works of art until his eighties, and died of heart failure in 2000 at the age of 82.

Life

Chen Hsia-Yu was born in Longjing Township, Taichung State in 1917. He revealed his artistic talent at a tender age. He enrolled at Dali Public School when he was eight years old, and gained access to photography during his enrolment at Tamkang Secondary School. He fell ill from over-practicing and had to quit school to recuperate at home. Nevertheless, he still asked his uncle who was studying in Japan to buy him a camera. At the age of 17, Chen even went to Japan with his uncle to learn photography. For some reason, he was apprenticed to a photo studio instead of being enrolled at a photography school. Later, his physical disorder forced him to return to Taiwan for recuperation. In that period, his uncle commissioned Japanese sculptor Hori Shinji to create a statue of Chen’s grandfather and brought it back from Japan to Taiwan, which inspired Chen to study sculpture in Japan.

    In 1935, Chen went to Japan again. Upon Chen Hui-Kun’s recommendation, he sat at the feet of Mizutani Tetsuya (1879-1943), a professor of sculpture at Tokyo Fine Arts School. Under Mizutani’s one-year tutelage, Chen Hsia-Yu learned nothing but the basics of sharpening chisels apart from assisting his professor in making portraits, because Mizutani set great store by the fundamentals of sculpture. It went against Chen’s goal of creating works autonomously. Therefore, he joined Fujii Kooyu’s (1882-1958, a member of the Imperial Art Academy) studio specializing in figure sculpting.

    As far as Fujii Kooyu was concerned, the kernel of sculpture is to keep observing, comprehending, and exploring, which had a profound influence on Chen’s subsequent creations. Between 1938 and 1940 when Chen studied at Fujii’s studio, his works Nude Woman (1938), Hair (1939) and After Bath (1940) were successively selected for the Shinbunten, and he ergo received the honor of jury exemption in 1941, which made him the one and only Taiwanese sculptor who won the laurels. In 1941, his work Seated Figure was selected for the Japanese Sculptor Association Exhibition, where he won the Association Award and was recommended to become a member of the association. He was also a founding member of the sculpture department of the Tai Yang Art Association in 1941.     After his homecoming from Japan in 1946, Chen taught at Taichung Normal School and served as a jury member of the Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition. Between 1947 and 1949, namely after the February 28 massacre, he not only withdrew from the Tai Yang Art Association, but also resigned from the teaching post and the jury before he devoted himself entirely to artistic creation. The subject matters of his works encompass figure sculpture, portrait sculpture, religious icons, and statue of Buddha.

Style

Sitting at the feet of Fujii Kooyu from 1936 to 1943, Chen on the one hand inherited the spirit-oriented form-making style emphasized by Fujii, and on the other hand idealized his own ideological zeal through the forms he created in his oeuvre. Chen’s works highlight the aesthetic beauty of balanced, well-proportioned flesh, skeleton, and texture, showcasing the qualities of simplicity, purity, and aesthetic delight. The figures’ facial expressions embody his spiritual reflection.

    In the twilight stage of his career, Chen no longer intentionally foregrounded corporeal sharpness. He blurred the contours of his works, looking inwards for the tranquility and essence of life. His works created in this period relatively underscore the momentum and internal drive of the portrayed objects.

Awards

1. 1938 | Nude Woman was selected for the Shinbunten (previously the Teiten).

2. 1939 | Hair was selected for the Shinbunten (previously the Teiten).

3. 1940 | After Bath was selected for the Shinbunten (previously the Teiten).

4. 1941-1945 | Honor of jury exemption for the Shinbunten (previously the Teiten).

5. 1941 | Seated Figure was selected for the Japanese Sculptor Association Exhibition and won the Association Award.

Exhibitions

1. 1945 | Nude Woman I, the first Japan Fine Arts Exhibition and the Brazilian International Exhibition

2. 1979 | Sculptural Vignettes Exhibition, Taichung, Taiwan

3. 1981 | Relief of Three Buffalos, Lying Woman, and Seated Woman, the Japan Pacific Art Exhibition

4. 1997 | Chen Hsia-Yu Solo Exhibition, the Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan