The Fifth Moon Group (), also known as the Fifth Moon Art Group, is a group of Chinese artists who pioneered the
modern art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
movement in
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
between the mid-1950s and the 1970s. Members of the group were born in
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
and later migrated to Taiwan. The heyday of the group came during the 1960s–70s, coinciding with the period of the
Great Cultural Revolution in Mainland China. The Fifth Moon Group is closely related to and usually associated with the Eastern Painting Group (東方畫會) in membership, artistic works, and exhibitions.
Formation
The idea of the Fifth Moon Group came about as an answer to the group of friends’ growing discontent with the conservative and lackluster art scene in Taiwan. During their first three years of
National Taiwan Normal University
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and Lin ...
, the would-be members of the Fifth Moon Group visited the annual Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition and found the award-winning artworks to be poorly made and lacking in both diversity and variety. In their fourth year, the group attempted to participate, but they did not get accepted into the exhibition. Motivated by the incident, the group decided to hold their own exhibition; later, they received support from their university tutor.
In May 1957, the Fifth Moon Group was officially founded by a group of painters who were graduates from the Art Department at the National Taiwan Normal University (Traditional Chinese: 國立臺灣師範大學). The leading figure of the group was Liu Kuo-sung (Liu Guosong, 劉國松), and other core members included Chuang Tse (Zhuang Zhi, 莊喆), Fong Chung-Ray (Feng Zhongrui, 馮鍾睿), Kuo Tung-Jung (Guo Dongrong, 郭東榮), Li Fang-Chih (Li Fangzhi, 李芳枝), Kuo Yu-Lun (Guo Yulun, 郭豫倫), Chen Jing-Rong (陳景容), and Ku Fu-Sheng (Gu Fusheng, 顧福生). They were subsequently joined by other artists, including Chen Ting-shi (陳庭詩) and Han Hsiang-Ning (Han Xiangning, 韓湘寧).
Development
Artistic style
Since their emergence, members of the Fifth Moon Group have been reputed to be pioneers who modernized Chinese paintings and revolutionized the Taiwanese art scene.
While artists in the West had been developing and experimenting with new styles since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artists in China were still largely working in the style of
social realism
Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
. Many were constrained by the pressure of traditional styles, and very few were able to produce works that could be considered modern. The Fifth Moon Group's emergence and works helped to pitch Chinese painting into the 20th century. Since the 1960s, the group became the pioneering art society in Taiwan, using the new modern style as their visual manifesto. The group's iconic style is a hybridization of bold brushstrokes of Eastern
calligraphy
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
tradition and the shapes and colors of Western aesthetics, characterized by an innovative representation of freedom, conceptualization, and format of painting.
Members
The founding members of the Fifth Moon Group include:
Chuang Tse (Zhuang Zhi, 莊喆), Fong Chung-Ray (Feng Zhongrui, 馮 鍾 睿), Kuo Tung-Jung (Guo Dongrong, 郭東榮), Li Fang-Chih (Li Fangzhi, 李芳枝), Kuo Yu-Lun (Guo Yulun, 郭豫倫), Chen Jing-Rong (陳景容), and Ku Fu-Sheng (Gu Fusheng, 顧福生), and they were subsequently joined by other artists including Chen Ting-shi (陳庭詩) and Han Hsiang-ning (Han Xiangning, 韓湘寧).
* Kuo Yu-Lun (Guo Yulun, 郭豫倫)
* Li Fang-Chih (Li Fangzhi, 李芳枝)
*
Liu Guosong
Liu Kuo-sung (Liu Guosong) (; born 26 April 1932) is a Chinese artist based in Taipei, Taiwan. Liu is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most important advocates and practitioners of modernist Chinese painting. He is also a writer on co ...
(Liu Kuo-Sung, 劉國松)
* Guo Dongrong (Guo Dongrong, 郭東榮)
* Zheng Qiongjuan (Cheng Chiung-Chuan 鄭瓊娟 )
* Chen Jingrong (Ch’en Ching-Jung, 陳景容)
Other members of the group include:
* Chen Ting Shih (Ch’en T’ing-Shih, Chen Tingshi 陳庭詩) (1915–2002)
*
Fong Chung-Ray (Feng Zhongrui 馮鐘睿) (1933)
* Hung Hsien (Hong Xian / Margaret Chang 鄭瓊娟 ) (1933)
[Michael Sullivan. ''Art and Artists of Twentieth-Century China''. University of California Press, 1996, ]
When Liu Kuo-sung went to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1966, he invited Margaret Chang to join the Fifth Moon Group's exhibition. During the 1970s, she participated in many exhibitions of the group.
*
Chuang Che (Zhuang Zhe)
* Hu Chi-Chung (Hu Qizhong)
* Han Xiangning
* Liao Jichun (
Liao Chi-chun
Liao Chi-chun (1902–1976) was a Taiwanese painter and sculptor.
Education
In 1918, he entered the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School. By 1922, he graduated and began teaching at Fengyuan Public School (Fengyuan Kōgakkō). In 1 ...
)
*
Sun Duoci
Sun Duoci (; 1912 – March 1975) was a Chinese artist. Famous for her oil paintings, sketches and ink and wash works, she was an accomplished artist, as well as a calligrapher and writer. One of her pieces has sold at auction for more than $1 ...
* Zhang Longyan
Exhibitions
On May 10, 1957, the inaugural exhibition was held at
Taipei Zhongshan Hall
Zhongshan Hall () is a historical building which originally functioned as the Taipei (Taihoku) City Public Auditorium (public hall). It is located at 98 Yanping South Road in the Ximending neighborhood of Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. In 1 ...
.
From 1957 to 1970, the "Annual Fifth Moon group Exhibition" was shown at City Hall, Taipei. Noted anniversary exhibits for the 25th (1981), 35th (1991) and 40th (1997) years were on display in Taipei with the .
Other exhibitions by year:
* 1963. "Exhibition of Avant-Garde Chinese Contemporary Art", Dominion Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
* 1963. "A Select Exhibition of Taiwan Modern Painting", Art Center, Tunghai University, Taichung.
* 1963. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition", Chatham Galleries Kowloon, Hong Kong.
* 1964. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition", Gallery of Mandarin Hotel, Hong Kong.
* 1964. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition of Five Chinese Painters", Dominion Art Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
* 1964. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition of Five Chinese Painters", The Gallery of Institute of Canberra University, Canberra, Australia.
* 1966. "An Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Painting", The Art Gallery of Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Wisconsin, United States / The Gallery of Wisconsin State University, Whitewater (Wisconsin), United States.
* 1967. "Paintings of Five Taiwan Contemporary Artists", Sally Jackson Art Gallery, Hong Kong.
* 1967. "Contemporary Chinese Painting Exhibition", The Provincial Taichung Library, Taichung.
* 1967. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition", Lee Nardness Galleries, New York, United States.
* 1967. "Modern Chinese Art", The Luz Gallery, Manille, Philippines.
* 1967. "Modern Arts and Letters", Tien Educational Center, Taipei.
* 1967. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition", Mori Gallery, Chicago (Illinois), United States / Wurster Center of Art, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States / University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.
* 1967. "The Fifth Moon Group Exhibition", Solidaridad Gallery Manila, Philippines.
* 1970. "Five Chinese painters: Fifth Moon Exhibition". National Gallery of Art and Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan. (Chen Ting-Shih, Fing Chung-Ray, Hu Chi-Chung, Hung Hsien Lin, Kuo Sung)
* 1971. "Fifth Moon Group", Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaï, United States.
Collections
Works from the group are held in collections at institutions in Taiwan, China, United Kingdom and the United States:
* Taiwan:
**
National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...
, Taipei
** National History Museum, Taipei
** National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung
** Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung
* China:
**
National Art Museum of China
The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC, ) is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is one of the largest art museums in China, and is funded by the Ministry of Culture. The construction of the museu ...
, Beijing
**
Shanghai Art Museum
The Shanghai Art Museum () was an art museum in the city of Shanghai, China. In October 2012, the museum was rebranded as the China Art Museum when it moved to the China pavilion at Expo 2010 on the former Shanghai Expo 2010 lands. The Shanghai ...
, Shanghai
** Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong
** City Hall Art Museum, Hong Kong
* United Kingdom:
**
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, London
* United States:
**
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, Illinois
** Asian Art Museum San Francisco, California
** Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
** De Young Museum, San Francisco, California
** The Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
** Anderson Collection, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
** Collection of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III
**
A. M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Notes and references
Catalogues
* Lü Peng. ''Histoire de l'art chinois au XXe siècle''. Somogy, éditions d'art. Paris. 2013, .
* Michael Sullivan. ''Art and Artists of Twentieth-Century China''. University of California Press. 1996, 1984–85. . Consulté le 3 Juillet 2012.
* Five Chinese Painters, Fifth Moon Exhibition. National Museum of History, Taipei, 1970.
* Julia F.Andrews and Kuiyi Shen. The Art of Modern China. University of California Press, 2012. .
* Michael Sullivan. ''Moderne Chinese artists, a biographical dictionary''. University of California Press. 2006.
* Asian traditions/ modern expressions: Asian American Artists and Abstractions, 1945–1970. Edited by Jeffrey Weschler, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, in association with the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. 1997. Reminiscences of Mi Chou: The First Chinese Gallery in America by Franck Fulai Cho .
* Formless Form: Taiwanese Abstract Art. Taipei Fine Arts Museum. 2012.
* The Search for the Avant-Garde 1946–69. TFAM Collection Catalogue. Volume II. Taipei Fine Arts Museum. 2011. reprint 2012. .
* The Modernist Wave. Taiwan Art in the 1950s and 1960s. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. 2011. , 139, 147, 148,
* Julia F. Andrews et Kuiyi Shen. ''The Art of Modern China''. University of California Press, 2012. .
* Michael Sullivan. ''Moderne Chinese artists, a biographical dictionary''. University of California Press. 2006.
* Transcriptions d'entretiens de Liu Guosong et Fong Chung Ray Avec Sabine Vazieux, expert en art.
External links
WEast collection{Dead link, date=December 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
20th-century Chinese artists
Artist cooperatives
National Taiwan Normal University alumni