Title

The Cross-Strait Context of “Modernity”: Ho Tieh-hua’s “New Art Movement” and Postwar Taiwanese Modernism

Author

Kuo Che-yu

Genre

Article  

Pages

77-113

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

Ho Tieh-hua 何鐵華, modernism, the New Art Movement, neorealism

Abstract

    Between 1947 and 1958, Ho Tieh-hua 何鐵華 (1910-1982) edited publications, organized exhibitions, and held classes, becoming a prominent figure in Taiwan’s art and cultural scene. During this period, he published numerous art critiques introducing Western modernist art and strongly advocated that Free China should develop a “new art.” From a chronological perspective, Ho Tieh-hua and his proposed “Free China New Art Movement” are likely the starting point for the large-scale introduction of Western modernist thought in postwar Taiwan. This article examines the cross-strait evolution of Ho Tieh-hua’s “New Art Movement.” First, it traces the roots of this movement back to the modernist currents of 1930s Shanghai. Next, it discusses how the “New Art Movement,” after crossing the strait, intertwined with the anti- communist historical situation to become a significant and meaningful art movement. Finally, it explores the potential internal connections between the “New Art Movement” and postwar Taiwan’s “modernist painting” and “modernist literature,” linking them to the development of Taiwan’s modernism in an effort to clarify doubts about the “Westernization” of postwar modernism.