Draft:Wang Pan-Youn

• Comment: See WP:VERIFY Qcne (talk) 08:40, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

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Wang Pan-Youn
Born	December 16, 1909 Andong County, Huaian Fu, Jiangsu Province, Qing Empire
Died	December 22, 2017 (aged 108)  Yilan County, Taiwan
Nationality	Republic of China
Education	Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts
Occupation	Teacher, Painter

Wang Pan-Youn (1908 or 1909 – December 22, 2017) was a painter in Taiwan and born in Jiangsu Province, China. When he was a student, he suffered severe hardships due to the lack of financial support. Braving the elements, he managed to graduate from the Division of Western-style Painting, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. After the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War, he moved to Taiwan and settled down in Yilan as an art teacher at Luodong Secondary School, where he created works of art as well. He was a winner of the 5th National Award for Arts in 2001. Characterized by simple compositions, Wang’s paintings are as symbolic as capable of expressing sui generis and profound emotions.

Life

Wang Pan-Youn was born in 1908 (or 1909) as the second son of a distinguished family in Jiangsu Province, China. His father and mother respectively passed away when he was 3 and 13 years old. After graduating from elementary school, he passed the entrance exam and enrolled at Jiangsu Provincial Huaian Secondary School, but his family was rather lukewarm about his studies. After dropping out of school for one year, he reenrolled at the same school with the financial aid from his relatives and sharecroppers who sympathized with him. In 1933, he passed the entrance exam and enrolled in the Department of Law at Fudan University. Having an incompatible interest, he took the exam for the Division of Western-style Painting, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts where he sat at the feet of Zhang Xian. At that time, Chen Ren-Hao, Pan Yu-Liang, Wang Ji-Yuan, and Pan Tian-Shou were also the faculty members of that school. Lacking financial backing, Wang Pan-Youn had to work part-time to meet his living expenses, and he got preferential treatment from Wu Fu-Zhi with regard to his tuition and school fees. Wang graduated from the academy in 1936. He and his close confidante Ji Zhu-Jun planned to pursue advanced study in France with their teacher Pan Yu-Liang. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Sino-French War ruined their plan. To flee from the calamity of the Chinese Civil War, Wang went to Taiwan by ship together with his wife Ni Yue-Qing and their eldest daughter in 1949. They temporarily stayed in Fengshang, Kaohsiung where he worked as a quayman. In 1952, upon his cousin’s recommendation, he worked as an art teacher at Luodong Secondary School in Yilan and thenceforth settled down there. Throughout his teaching career, he persisted with painting despite his difficult life. After his retirement in June 1973, he became more engaged in artistic creation. He won the Excellent Teacher Award in 1969 and the 5th National Award for Arts in 2001. He departed this life on December 22, 2017 at the age of 108.

Creative Style and Features of Work

Majoring in Western-style painting, Wang Pan-Youn nonetheless created more watercolors than oil paintings because he couldn’t afford oil paints. The compositions of his oeuvre tend to comprise large blocks of flat or thick coloring. Animals and human figures are also the staple elements in his works. The overall image is as simple as nifty, with a touch of impressionism and the ability to convey unique, profound emotions. Wang had enjoyed reading poems and kept a diary since his tender age. Most of his works faithfully mirror his frame of mind recorded in his diary. His diary reveals that his experiences of being an orphaned child, an outlander, and a man struggling for survival had prompted him to treat painting as a channel to vent his feelings and wishes. Huang Guang-Nan pointed out that the compositions of Wang’s paintings frequently contain standing figures, small sailboats, galloping dogs, and raw-boned horses. These dream-like scenes and symbols are latent images of emotional repression. Further analysis shows two specific features of his paintings, including “condensation” (e.g., An Exhausted Traveler [1964] and Homesickness [1972]), and “replacement” (e.g., After All the Vicissitudes [1982] and A Galloping Dog [1985]). Standing figures, small sailboats, galloping dogs, and raw-boned horses denote Wang himself and his loneliness, whilst the sun, seabirds, and houses indicate his hometown, lover, and warmth.

Exhibitions

· 1959 | Wang staged his first solo exhibition at the Lotung Farmers’ Association, Yilan Country and sold all the 30 ink-wash paintings and watercolors on display.

· 1966 | He made his debut at the Asian International Gallery with the assistance of Li De (an art pal of Wang in Taipei).

· 1979 | He presented his works at the Spring Art Gallery in Taipei with his old friend Li De’s persuasion.

· 1983 | He won the Golden Goblet Award of the Art Society of China and was invited to stage his watercolor exhibition at the Celebrity Gallery of Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

· 1985 | He presented his works at the 1st Asian International Art Exhibition in South Korea and thenceforth participated in this exhibition 16 times in a row.

· 1986 | He staged his first ink-wash exhibition at the Lion Art Gallery.

· 1987 | He staged a solo exhibition at the Crown Art Center in Taipei and was invited to hold another solo exhibition at the National Gallery of National Museum of History.

· 1988 | He was invited to participate in the National Art Exhibition R.O.C., the Asian International Art Exhibition, and the Joint Exhibition of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery.

· 1989 | He partook in the National Art Exhibition R.O.C. and the Exhibition on Contemporary Art Development hosted by the National Gallery of National Museum of History.

· 1990 | He staged a solo exhibition at the Asia Art Center in Taipei.

· 1991 | The Taiwan Provincial Museum of Fine Arts included Wang’s works in its collection for the second time.

· 1992 | He staged a solo exhibition at the Eslite Gallery in Taipei and another solo exhibition at the Taiwan Provincial Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung.

· March 1992 | Wang’s oil painting Landscape and watercolor Stone Worship were sold at the price of NT$ 1,000,000 and NT$ 600,000 respectively at Sotheby’s first painting auction in Taipei, and Wang was ergo praised as “one of the eight celebrated painters” by newspapers the next day.

· 1994 | He staged his solo exhibition “Being Alone Is Not Lonely” at the Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.

· 1995 | He staged his solo exhibition “Not just Loneliness” at the Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei, and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts included his oil paintings and watercolors in its collection.

· 1997 | He took part in the special exhibition at the Art Taipei.

· May-June 2001 | He staged “In Pursuit of Solar Perfection,” an exhibition of his self-selected works, at the National Museum of History.

· May 4, 2018 | The National Museum of History organized the exhibition “By the Passing of a Thousand Sails — The Paintings of Wang Pan-Youn,” featuring nearly 150 paintings by Wang from the collections of the National Museum of History, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, private collectors, and Wang’s family. The media for the exhibits included oil painting, watercolor, and ink-wash painting. The subjects were divided into mountain, water, boat, lonely figure, crowd, Huangshan, the Great Northern Wilderness, winter scenery of Northeast China, memories of China landscapes, as well as the beauty of Taiwan landscapes such as the Taiping Mountain, the Suao Port, the Guishan Island, and the rain in the Lanyang Plain. His 70 ink-wash paintings that debuted in this exhibition bore the signatures of Chinese landscape painting in the Song and Yuan dynasties as well as the lonely bird in Bada Shanren’s depiction. Liao Hsin-Tien (director of the National Museum of History), Cheng Li-Chun (Minister of Culture), senior artists Hsieh Li-Fa, Liao Shiou-Ping, and choreographer Yao Shu-Fen attended the opening ceremony of this exhibition.

· October 19, 2019 | The Asia Art Center organized the joint exhibition “Zeitgeist: Abstract Art of Eastern Origin” at the 798 Art Zone, Beijing. Participating artists included Wang Pan-Youn, Chen Ting-Shih, Yuyu Yang, Liu Sheng-Rong, Li Yuan-Chia, Chu Wei-Bor, Lifang, Fong Chung-Ray, Chuang Che, Lee Shi-Chi and Han Hsiang-Ning.

Publications

· 1994 | Paintings of Wang Pan-Youn—The Play of God (memoirs)

· 1998 | A large painting catalogue that includes several works with the dimensions of 162.0x112.0 cm

· 2001 | In Pursuit of Solar Perfection—Wang Pan-Youn’s Self-selected Paintings

Awards

· 1983 | Golden Goblet Award in the category of art

· Arts and Business Awards

· Kavalan Award

· 2001 | The 5th National Award for Arts in the category of fine arts