Yuyu YANG (1926-1997) was born in Yilan, Taiwan. Yang’s parents moved to Beijing for business when he was still a child, and he enrolled in school there. After graduating from middle school, he went to Japan and took entrance exam for the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts), but returned to Beijing during the turmoil of World War ll, where he enrolled in the Department of Fine Arts at Fu Jen Catholic University. Later, he entered the Department of Sculpture at the Accademia di Bele Arti of Rome, Italy, where he studied under the supervision of Pictro Giampoli (1898-1998). Recommended by Giampoli, as the first Taiwanese member, Yang was invited to join the Italian Association for Bronze Coin Making Artists.

He was later forced to leave his parents and went back to Taiwan. Here he enrolled at the Taiwan Provincial College of Education (now National Taiwan Normal University). Yang studied traditional painting techniques, architecture, and sculpture in Beijing, Tokyo, Taipei, and Rome. Over an art career spanning more than 60 years, he held numerous large and small solo exhibitions and dozens of joint exhibitions. Yang saw modernization and internationalization of Taiwan’s art, and his art works became the leading force for innovation. Collectively, they mirror the development of Taiwanese modern art.

While Yang was in charge of artistic design for Harvest Magazine, he portrayed simple and honest lives of people living in Taiwan’s traditional agricultural society. When Taiwan’s economy began to expand, he devoted himself to landscape development in public spaces, thus becoming a pioneer of public art in Taiwan. The use of stainless steel in his sculptures reflected his respect for both nature and the arts and presented his idea of balance between nature and humans. Many of his works have now become local landmarks.