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Lot Essay
IMPORTANT PAINTINGS FROM DR. ANDREW CHEW, FOUNDER OF THE HONG-GAH MUSEUM
The Hong-Gah Museum, a well-known private art museum in northern Taiwan, enjoys similar stature as the stunning Chimei Museum in southern Taiwan. Museum founder Mr. Andrew Chew is the co-founder of the first local semiconductor company in Taiwan, UNITRON, which unquestionably laid a strong foundation for Taiwan's semiconductor industry, befitting his name as the spearheading pioneer in Taiwan's electronics sector. Chew began to turn to arts in the 1980s as a way to escape from his hectic business life in East Europe. At the beginning he mainly collected Chinese paintings and calligraphy. It was until the 1990s he gained interest in Taiwanese contemporary art through a friend in the business. Chew then started his own art gallery as well as a system for managing artists and acquiring their best works. Chew's Culture Foundation was founded in 1990, committed to promoting Taiwanese arts and deepening cultural roots. Later on, it gave birth to the Hong-Gah Museum, named after Chew's father. The museum regularly holds exhibitions and forums, continuously spreading the seeds of art.
The lots from the Andrew Chew's collection form a brilliant representation of the diversity of Taiwan's art scene in 1990s, including works by seven middle generation Taiwanese artists. Air-raid Shelter (Lot 184) by Su Wong-shen depicts the stories of stray dogs with faint colour gradation, as a reflection of the ambiguity of existence between imagination and reality. There are also works by the leading artists of Hantoo Art Group, such as Wu Tien-chang (Lot 185), who explores the themes of ethnicity and subjectivity; as well as Lien Chien-hsing and Lu Hsien-ming (Lot 186 and 187), whose works raise questions on the excessive expansion of the cities. The sensual and surrealistic visions of Chiu Tze-yan and Alixe Fu (Lot 188 and 190) reflect the artists' deep exploration of inner space. Zheng Zaidong's Resting; & Cement Bridge (Lot 191) respectively depict his mother and the Taipei City familiar to the artist, and both bring out a psychological tension through concise composition, while his Vase On Blue Ground (Lot 192) shows linear simplicity and a unique literati character.
The Hong-Gah Museum, a well-known private art museum in northern Taiwan, enjoys similar stature as the stunning Chimei Museum in southern Taiwan. Museum founder Mr. Andrew Chew is the co-founder of the first local semiconductor company in Taiwan, UNITRON, which unquestionably laid a strong foundation for Taiwan's semiconductor industry, befitting his name as the spearheading pioneer in Taiwan's electronics sector. Chew began to turn to arts in the 1980s as a way to escape from his hectic business life in East Europe. At the beginning he mainly collected Chinese paintings and calligraphy. It was until the 1990s he gained interest in Taiwanese contemporary art through a friend in the business. Chew then started his own art gallery as well as a system for managing artists and acquiring their best works. Chew's Culture Foundation was founded in 1990, committed to promoting Taiwanese arts and deepening cultural roots. Later on, it gave birth to the Hong-Gah Museum, named after Chew's father. The museum regularly holds exhibitions and forums, continuously spreading the seeds of art.
The lots from the Andrew Chew's collection form a brilliant representation of the diversity of Taiwan's art scene in 1990s, including works by seven middle generation Taiwanese artists. Air-raid Shelter (Lot 184) by Su Wong-shen depicts the stories of stray dogs with faint colour gradation, as a reflection of the ambiguity of existence between imagination and reality. There are also works by the leading artists of Hantoo Art Group, such as Wu Tien-chang (Lot 185), who explores the themes of ethnicity and subjectivity; as well as Lien Chien-hsing and Lu Hsien-ming (Lot 186 and 187), whose works raise questions on the excessive expansion of the cities. The sensual and surrealistic visions of Chiu Tze-yan and Alixe Fu (Lot 188 and 190) reflect the artists' deep exploration of inner space. Zheng Zaidong's Resting; & Cement Bridge (Lot 191) respectively depict his mother and the Taipei City familiar to the artist, and both bring out a psychological tension through concise composition, while his Vase On Blue Ground (Lot 192) shows linear simplicity and a unique literati character.