Lu Tie-Zhou

Lu Tie-Zhou (17 June 1899－24 September 1942), originally named Lu Ding-Zhu and a native of Daxi, Taoyuan, was a painter in Taiwan under Japanese rule. He belonged to the Maruyama-Shijō school at Kyoto Painting Academy. Traditional ink wash paintings were the staple of his works. He was known for flower-and-bird paintings after pursuing advanced training in Japan. Plants, flowers, birds and other animals arose frequently as the subjects of his works,: 30, 46 presenting a sense of idealized order with superbly created compositions and other aesthetic qualities. He was also known as “Taiten’s guru.”

Life

Lu Tie-Zhou was of wealthy origin. His father Lu Ying-Yang liked to hang out with local literati. Learning by osmosis, Lu Tie-Zhou gradually became interested in traditional literature, calligraphy, and ink wash painting. In the mid-1920s, Lu moved to Taiheichō in the suburbs of Taihoku and opened an embroidery shop there after his father's demise. He refined his painting skills by drawing flowers and birds for clients and by copying the landscape, flower-and-bird, and figure paintings by famous Chinese artists of the Ming and Qing dynasties and modern times, hence his great competence in calligraphy and painting.: 30

Lu Tie-Zhou experienced a setback in his mid-career period. In 1927, the Taiwan Education Association, a front organization of the Department of Education, the Government-General of Taiwan, held the first official “Taiten,” formally introducing the new trends of modern art into Taiwan. Inheriting traditional art, Lu's work was not favored by the jury and failed to be selected, which prompted Lu to go to Japan in 1928 and enroll at Kyoto Painting Academy, the stronghold of the Maruyama-Shijō school, where he sat at the feet of Fukuda Heihachirō who played a leading role in the modern flower-and-bird painting reform in Japan.: 46 In 1929, Lu submitted his paintings Plum and Okra to the third Taiten, and both works were selected for the category of Eastern-style painting. His work Plum further won the laurels of Special Selection. However, Lu returned to Taiwan in 1930 after merely two years of study due to his family suffered a reversal of fortune. Lu continued to participate in the Taiten after his homecoming. His work Backyard earned him the Taiten Award (1931), Shamo and Castor-oil Plant earned him the Special Selection and Taiten Award (1932), and Southland also earned him the Taiten Award. Lu won awards in successive years, which brought him great fame. Journalist Lin Jin-Hong from the newspaper Taiwan New People even praised Lu as “a talent of the Eastern-style painting scene in Taiwan.”

During the 1930s, a new trend of literati painting emerged in the Taiten. Therefore, Lu considered changing his creative style in the late stage of his career, and submitted his landscape sketching The Dahan River to the seventh Taiten (1933). His attempt at evolving his creative subject, genre, technique, and style found expression in this work. Unfortunately, in the midst of his transformation, Lu fell ill from constant overwork: 119 that resulted in his cardiogenic sudden death on 24 September 1942.

Related art events

In addition to creating works and participating in the Taiten, Lu Tie-Zhou engaged actively in the promotion of painting groups. In 1932, Lu joined the Chinaberry Art Society founded by Gobara Koto and Kinoshita Seigai.: 160-166 In 1933, Lin Yu-Shan, Kuo Hsueh-Hu, Chen Jing-Hui, and Lu Tie-Zhou founded the Li Guang Society. In 1935, Lu Tie-Zhou, Kuo Hsueh-Hu, Chen Jing-Hui, Lin Jin-Hong, Yang San-Lang, and Cao Qiu-Pu founded the Six Ink-stone Society, thereby continuing to organize arts education events.: 220–225 Lu Tie-Zhou also contributed significantly to arts teaching. After returning to Taiwan in 1930, he began to instruct students in his atelier, originally located in No. 8, the 5th Dist., Taihei-cho, later moved to No. 83, the 7th Dist., and in 1936 it was officially registered as the “Nan-Ming Painting Institute.” Those who had learned painting in Lu's atelier included Lin Xue-Zhou, Su Qi-Xiang, Liao Li-Fang, Luo Fang-Mei, Lu Meng-Jin, Yu De-Huang, Huang Hua-Zhou, Hsu Shen-Chuan, Chen Yi-Rang, and You Ben-Eh.: 138-150: 226-229