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 Andrew Chew's collection features a wonderful selection of works bearing witness to the early development of art in Taiwan and artists' pursuit of new forms. Chen Chengpo's Nude (Lot 414), a figure drawing of his early period, captures the dynamic movement with expressive lines and colour blocks. Chen Yinhui's Rhythm (Lot 409) employs overlapping rhythmic lines and passionate, flowing colours to portray dancers' moves in abstract style. These two works reveal different rendering of vitality and ways of expression across two generations. Wang Panyuan's Nolstalgia (Lot 413) appears to be veiled by a hazy shower of lines, where the forms reduced to their simplest elements at the two ends of the expansive space gaze at each other in endless melancholy. Max Liu also uses simple lines to transform his themes into pure manifestations of forms—Whisper (Lot 410) and Wizard (Lot 412) exemplify his life-long passion for nature and anthropology. Having lived in the United States for years, Huang Chih Chao combines vibrant wild colours and ebullient abstract lines to create Blossom (Lot 411) blooming in full glory.
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 Andrew Chew's collection features a wonderful selection of works bearing witness to the early development of art in Taiwan and artists' pursuit of new forms. Chen Chengpo's Nude (Lot 414), a figure drawing of his early period, captures the dynamic movement with expressive lines and colour blocks. Chen Yinhui's Rhythm (Lot 409) employs overlapping rhythmic lines and passionate, flowing colours to portray dancers' moves in abstract style. These two works reveal different rendering of vitality and ways of expression across two generations. Wang Panyuan's Nolstalgia (Lot 413) appears to be veiled by a hazy shower of lines, where the forms reduced to their simplest elements at the two ends of the expansive space gaze at each other in endless melancholy. Max Liu also uses simple lines to transform his themes into pure manifestations of forms—Whisper (Lot 410) and Wizard (Lot 412) exemplify his life-long passion for nature and anthropology. Having lived in the United States for years, Huang Chih Chao combines vibrant wild colours and ebullient abstract lines to create Blossom (Lot 411) blooming in full glory.