Landscape Variations-LEE Chung-Chung’s Ink Art Journey

In 1942, during the tumultuous and war-inflicted period, LEE Chung-Chung was born into a family in Tunxi, located at the foot of Huangshan in Anhui Providence. After moving with her father, LEE Jin-Yu (1907-1986), to Taiwan in 1947, she lived in Tainan’s Qigu, which was known for its salt production. In 1961, considering her parents’ financial burden as the eldest daughter in the family, she chose to enroll in the Art Department of the Political Warfare Cadres School (now Fu Hsing Kang College) as a publicly-funded student.

Lee’s academic training at Fu Hsing Kang College helped her build a solid foundation in figure drawing and sketching. Later, through the literary writer YU Tian-Chong (1935-2019), she met LIU Kuo-Sung and joined the “Modern Ink Painting Association” in 1968, beginning her journey of experimenting with modern ink painting. Whether through the use of abstract elements, the layering of color blocks and ink tones, or her alternating between rubbing, ink-washing, and automatic techniques, Lee’s experiments have enabled her to gradually unveil a creative path of her own.

“Landscape Variations—LEE Chung-Chung’s Ink Art Journey” on view at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts traces and teases out Lee’s career spanning over six decades, showcasing her iconic works. In addition to her early drawings, oil paintings, sketches, and archival images, the exhibition features her ink paintings categorized into various periods as well. Taking a retrospection of Taiwanese art history since the 1950s, despite not being a member of the Fifth Moon Group or the Ton-Fan Art Group, Lee’s unique ink paintings characterized by an elegant palette and abstract blocks and planes, have made her a distinctive and unswerving presence in the male-dominated field of ink art.

Landscape Variations-LEE Chung-Chung’s Ink Art Journey

Supervisor: Ministry of Culture
Organizer: National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
Curator: Wu Chao-Jen
Time: 2024.08.03~2024.11.03
Venue: Gallery 101