“The Art Journey of Su Fungnan: A Retrospective Exhibition,” organized by National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall of Ministry of Culture, will be held at Chungshan National Gallery from May 6 to August 13. The opening ceremony was held today (May 6). The distinguished guests attending the ceremony included Director-general Wang Lan-sheng of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Director Hsiao Tsung-huang of National Palace Museum, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung, former Minister of Culture Hung Meng-chi, former President Huang Kuang-nan of National Taiwan University of Arts, and Prof. Liu Su-chen, the exhibition curator. The ceremony started with the singing of the Beinan singer, Dingko Nan. Prof. Su Fung-nan, the exhibition artist, specially donated his work, “Red Beauty by Rocks,” to the collection of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to express his gratitude to the hall for organizing the exhibition.
Director-general Wang Lan-sheng of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall said Prof. Su has the very deep connection with the hall. Several former Director-generals invited him to hold a solo exhibition, but he wasn’t fully prepared because he had been conceiving new works to pursue the best. “The Art Journey of Su Fungnan: A Retrospective Exhibition” was finally decided to be held at Chungshan National Gallery this year before the hall is about to be closed and renovated. The exhibition displays a total of 100 outstanding works, including the subjects such as landscapes, flowers, vegetables and fruit, sea of clouds, and spectacles. Among them, there are many great large works that have been newly completed in the last two years. Prof. Su specially emphasized that when making natural scenes the creative subjects, an artist has to understand the ecology by actually getting exposed to, experiencing, and realizing nature so that the created works will be endowed with vitality. It’s the hall’s honor to invited Prof. Su to hold the exhibition. Director-general Wang sincerely invited all art lovers to visit and enjoy the exhibition.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung said he had been acquainted with Prof. Su for thirty years. He is the evergreen tree in the art world, enthusiastic about helping others and cultivating numerous talents for the art world of Taiwan besides personal creation. He loves Taiwan and the life and scenery here, all of which have become his creative subjects. Through the unique observation and superb skills, he depicts the landscapes and scenery of Taiwan. After appreciating his paintings, the viewers will have the urge to visit the places in person. Many large works on the scene were created recently. His determination and perseverance to challenge himself bravely is indeed admirable. Minister Pan expressed his gratitude to Prof. Su for dedicating himself so much to the art and academic worlds in Taiwan and laying the solid foundation for the environment of art education in Taiwan.
Former President Huang Kuang-nan of National Taiwan University of Arts said Mr. Su was the famous professor of NTUA. He had been famous since young because he was the first prize winner of Provincial Art Exhibition and his works were approved by many teachers of National Academy of Art (today’s National Taiwan University of Arts), including the four professors, Chen Dan-cheng, Hu Ke-min, Fu Chuan-fu, and Jin Chin-bo. Many large works of this exhibition can’t be completed by ordinary people. President Huang said he was the student of Prof. Su, and he admired Prof. Su very much from contents, styles, to scales whenever he appreciated his works.
Prof. Su said he had received the invitation from the hall to hold a solo exhibition at Chungshan National Gallery more than ten years ago, but he didn’t put it into practice because he had high demands on himself and hoped the exhibited works to be absolutely satisfactory. Prof. Su attached great importance to this exhibition. He specially created many large works for the spacious space of Chungshan National Gallery. For example, “Lofty Hills” is a work of 20-meter width that takes great effort and much time. The contents of the works range from the small subjects such as flowers that can be seen at home to the large ones such as the scenic attractions in Taiwan, including Yushan, Alishan, Nine-Turn Bridge, and Longdong. He made different attempts and took different challenges even in terms of the choices of paper. Last, he sincerely shared his opinion that the success of an exhibition is never possible with one man’s efforts alone and expressed his gratitude to everyone’s assistance for contributing to and visiting today’s exhibition.
The artist, Prof. Su Fung-nan, was born in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan, in 1943. He graduated from Department of Fine Arts, National Academy of Art. After teaching and creating for years, he went for further studies and received the M.F.A of from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, US. He has been dedicated to art education for years and never stopped art creation. His works won the Jury’s Special Award of National Award for Arts, First Place of Provincial Art Exhibition, First Place of National Art Exhibition, First Place of Taipei City Art Exhibition, Sun Yat-sen Culture and Arts Award, and Chinese Literary Award and have been collected by art museums at home and abroad. His painting achievement has been highly appraised and respected by the art world.
Prof. Su emphasizes outdoor sketching and observation in creation, not sticking to the existing rules and thinking. Following Fu Chuan-fu, who creates works based on the natural landscapes of Taiwan, he not only inherits his grand layout but also refines his natural and free-hand brushwork. Prof. Su excels in landscapes and flowers. Through field trips, he paints the landscapes and scenery of Taiwan. The vivid sketching atmospheres can be seen everywhere in his works. In the recently created work, “Rising Waves of Beiguan” (2021), the surging waves are ingeniously integrated with the mountains, rocks and lush forests. The special landscape of Beiguan Park in Toucheng Township, Yilan County, can be seen in the painting. It seems that we can hear the sounds of waves hitting rocks at the same time when looking at the painting. The work is highly appealing.
“The Art Journey of Su Fungnan: A Retrospective Exhibition” presents the subjects such as landscapes, flowers and vegetables, sea of clouds, and spectacles, displaying a total of hundred exquisite works. The representative works include “Lofty Hills” (2022), “Blue Waves of Jialuo” (2021), “Pearls on Old Vines” (2018), “Beautiful Scenery of Beiguan” (2017), “Wisteria Welcomes Spring” (2009), and “A Scene of Balong” (1974). With many great large works as well as the ceramic works, the exhibition is an overview of Prof. Su’s amazing and extraordinary works. We sincerely invite all art lovers to visit and enjoy the exhibition. For more information, please visit the official website of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, www.yatsen.gov.tw, or call the service counter, (02) 27588008, ext. 545, 546.