Prof. Chen Houei-Kuen (1907~2011) was a distinguished artist and art educator in Taiwan. He dedicated his whole life to art, creating art works with a unique style and great aesthetic value. His works enjoy significant status and prestige within the art history of Taiwan and have written a beautiful page for themselves in Taiwan’s long and storied art history.

Beside his distinguished achievements in paintings, Prof. Chen also had great contributions in art education. After he graduated from Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1932, he returned to Taiwan and became an art educator for nearly half a century. When he was an educator, Prof. Chen was sincere, focused and meticulous about every aspect of art education. These traits, combined with his artistic talent and knowledge, made him popular among his students, with many cherishing his teaching days even today. When Prof. Chen was teaching at the Department of Fine Arts of National Taiwan Normal University, he was very active in the cultivation of grassroots art education by writing art textbooks, designing educational materials for art classes and publishing papers on art education, tilling the fertile soil of Taiwan art one step at a time. His dedication to the development of art in Taiwan and contribution to art education invoked admiration in all.

In the spring of 2011, Prof. Chen passed away at the ripe old age of 105. In order to commemorate Prof. Chen’s artistic achievements and his contributions to art in Taiwan, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) is organizing this commemorative exhibition. This exhibition will showcase the changing art styles of Prof. Chen during his life and give a comprehensive documentation of all the events in his art career. The NTMoFA will also invite art experts and scholars in Taiwan to participate in an academic forum centered on the discussion about characteristics of Prof. Chen’s artwork. Hopefully the discussions of the forum will give the people of Taiwan a better understanding of Prof. Chen’s art and encourage them to explore deeper into his artistic ideals and the shining example he set in Taiwan’s art history. 

Curator / Lin Pang-Soong