Ho, Chau Chu
Ho, Chau Chu (Chinese: 何肇衢 1931-March 2, 2023) a Taiwanese artist, born in Hsinchu County.
Ho was born in a Hakka village in Qionglin Township, Hsinchu County. His father Ho, Xin-Yan was a Buddhist painter. Of seven siblings, Ho, Chau Chu was the eldest in the family. Ho gained admission into the fine art department of the National Taipei Teachers’ College (National Taipei University of Education) in 1949. Then Ho served as an art teacher at the National Taipei University of Education Affiliated Elementary School until retirement.
From 1957, Ho actively sought opportunities to participate in fine art competitions and received major awards on multiple occasions. For consecutive three years, he was the recipient of the Tai-Yang Prize, the highest honor of the Tai-Yang Art Exhibition. Because of this honor, he was admitted as a member of the Tai-Yang Art Association through painter Lee Mei-Shu’s recommendation. Ho held his first solo exhibition in 1966. Until November 2021, the artist had held 35 solo exhibitions. Ho traveled extensively both within Taiwan and abroad for plein air painting. Most of his works are oil paintings featuring natural scenery. Ho’s style was deeply impacted by Picasso, Cubism, as well as abstract expressionism, showcasing bright color blocks and simplified forms. Ho has published two books based on his experiences visiting art museums abroad.
Ho passed away on March 2, 2023, due to contracting COVID-19.
Life
Ho, Chau Chu was born into a Hakka farming family in Juziwo, Luliaokeng, Qionglin Village of Chikuto District, Shinchiku Prefecture (present-day Qionglin Township, Hsinchu County) in Showa 6 (1931) during Japanese Rule. His father, Ho, Xin-Yan, was a painter who created Buddhist paintings, and his mother worked on their family-owned tea farm. Ho grew up in poverty. Being the eldest, he had four brothers and two sisters. Ho would help look after his siblings and do chores around the house since he was a child.[1]
Ho studied in Luliaokeng Elementary School (present-day Hsinchu County Qionglin Township Wulong Elementary School) and received Japanese education. During elementary school, Ho showed academic excellence and an interest in drawing[1]. After graduation, Ho gained admission into the middle school of Dadu Elementary School (present-day Hsinchu County Hengshan Township Dadu Elementary School). After the Retrocession in 1945, Ho once again enrolled in the Chutung branch of Hsinchu Municipal Hsinchu Junior High School (present-day National Chutung Senior High School), receiving Chinese education. This was enlightened and influenced by art teacher Lai Rong-Lai.
After graduating from the Chutung branch of Hsinchu Municipal Hsinchu Junior High School, Ho asked the county mayor Zou Qing-Zhi to recommend a job for him at the county government to relieve his family from financial stress. However, Zou encouraged him to pursue advanced study, so Ho gained admission into the art department of the public-funded National Taipei Teachers College (present-day National Taipei University of Education) together with his second younger brother Ho Yao-Zong. Ho Chau Chu graduated in 1952 and became an art teacher at the National Taipei University of Education Affiliated Elementary School at the recommendation of his teacher Chou Ying. The art classroom became Ho’s studio, and his teaching years were also the peak of his artistic career. By the time he retired 38 years later, Ho had created an impressive collection of works.
While Ho was a teacher at the National Taipei University of Education Affiliated Elementary School, he was invited to be the consultant for Lion Pencil Co. Ltd. and advised the company founder Li A-Mu to start a new art education magazine, which could also be a platform for company advertisement. This idea led to the birth of Lion Art in 1971. Ho recommended his brother Ho Cheng-Kuang, who also studied fine art, to be the editor-in-chief. In 1975, Ho Cheng-Kuang turned to found Artist monthly magazine. Ho Chau Chu retired in 1975. He traveled the world, sketched outdoors, and visited museums. He was also the art mentor of Yi-Yuan Painting Studio.
Awards and Exhibitions
Besides teaching art, Ho utilized his free time to create art which is mainly about plein air painting. In 1957, Ho started participating in fine art competitions and received up to 29 awards from several major art exhibitions.[2] Among these accolades were the Golden Goblet Award, Cannes International Art Exhibition National Honor Award, Chung-Shan Culture and Art Award, and Chinese Culture Education Award. He was also invited to be the juror of the oil painting division in several art exhibitions.
Ho’s work Mount Lan-Fang (1957) received the honorable mention award at the 20th Tai-Yang Art Exhibition, The Interior (1958) received third prize at the 13th Provincial Governor Award, while Jiufen Street Scene (1959), Backstreet (1960), and Boat (1961) received second prizes at the 14th, 15th, and 16th Taiwan Provincial Fine Art Exhibitions. The Rear Window (1958), Child and Bird (1959), and Countryside (1960) received the Tai-Yang Prize, the highest honor of the Tai-Yang Art Exhibition, during the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd Tai-Yang Art Exhibition. Because of this achievement, Ho became a member of the Tai-Yang Art Association at the age of 31 through the recommendation of Lee Mei-Shu.[1]
His first solo exhibition was held at the Armed Forces Cultural Center in Taipei in 1966. Continuously, he has held over 30 solo exhibitions. In 2021, to commemorate his 90 years of age, 「Spacetime・Superimposition・Modern Sentiment: A 90-year Retrospective of HO Chau-Chu」 was held at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.[2]
Creative Style
Ho, Chau Chu acquired art knowledge from the international art world through reading. He often went to libraries or saved money for purchasing art catalogues. In his studio, he had an abundant collection of books. In 1959, Ho successfully managed to exchange expired art magazines with several magazine publishers by swapping tinned pineapple, which allowed him to obtain 23 issues of Geijutsu Shincho from Shinchosha Publishing and the 20-volume The History of Success on Successful People from Nippon Jitsugyo Publishing. Art books and magazines served as nourishment for artistic creation.[3]
Ho once said: 「Tinned pineapples have supplied me with a lifetime of energy. I never thought of my artistic nourishment coming from this. It's really an unexpected result!」 Ho’s creative style was impacted by works from Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, and Picasso. His pre-1960s works did not stress brushstrokes and colors and instead featured his sketching technique. Later on, Ho was influenced by Cubism and began to adopt the technique of layering image blocks, tending to be abstract.[1]
In 1964, Ho visited Japan to attend an exhibition of Picasso, since then, he was influenced by Cubism. In the works Backstreet and Autumn Woods (1960), Ho deconstructed objects into color structures, adopting rich color arrangements that resulted in "forms" alluding to Cubism and the "colors" of Fauvism.[2] During the 1970s and 80s, Ho was enthusiastic about depicting natural scenery and incorporated blocks and lines to simplify scenes, which were later added with thick layers of oil pigment to create rich textural effects. His oeuvre expanded to include coastal piers, fishing villages, and sailboats, which were popularly received. In the later 1980s, Ho experimented with bold and intense colors that signaled a shift toward Expressionism. After 1986, his unique artistic vision manifested itself through the technique of framing within frames and the shifting visual effects of "superimposition," which were showcased through his large number of works on Tamsui.[2]
He was an avid outdoor painter and often traveled to different outdoor locations in Taiwan and abroad to create en plein air paintings. In 1989, Ho rented a studio in Tamsui and created almost 300 works on Tamsui over the ensuing decades.[3] Ho believed colors to be ever-changing. For instance, the Tamsui River could appear green or purple, with constantly shifting hues. His paintings were based on actual scenes, and many of the colors used were not invented by the artist, in keeping with his belief that art should reflect nature. Most of Ho’s works depicting flowers in vases were tributes to his mother. On the anniversary of his mother’s passing, Ho would place a painting of flowers in a vase in front of her photograph to commemorate her memory.
Art critic Hsiao Chong-Ray summarized the uniqueness of Ho's works as follows: his works were based on nature, yet not confined by nature; he simplified the layered spacetime of nature using Cubism; he depicted form using Cubism, and color through Fauvism; and his art was fueled by the sentiments of the present moment.[2][4]
Publications
Ho participated in the opening ceremony of the 「 Watercolor Exhibition of Republic of China」 during his first visit to Japan in 1964 and proceeded to visit several local Japanese art museums. Ho visited Europe for the first time in 1981 and visited numerous art museums, accumulating visiting experiences. In 1997, Ho published Touring Japanese Art Museums and Guide to European Art Museums through Artist Magazine.[1]
Family
Ho Chau Chu and his second younger brother Ho Yao-Zong both passed the entrance examination to the art department of National Taipei Teachers College (present-day National Taiwan University of Education) in 1949 and were guaranteed entrance into Taiwan Provincial Teachers College (present-day National Taiwan Normal University) after graduating in 1952, focusing their studies on art and design. Ho Yao-Zong taught at Chinese Culture University.
Ho, Chau Chu’s third younger brother Ho Gong-Shang and fourth younger brother Ho Cheng-Kuang followed their brothers’ academic path and enrolled in the art department at National Taipei Teachers College. Ho Gong-Shang is the founder of Art Book Co., Ltd., and Ho Cheng-Kuang was the editor-in-chief of Lion Art magazine and later established Artist magazine.
In Taiwan's art community, the "Ho Family" designated Ho, Chau Chu and his brothers who were all prominent in art. Four of the Ho brothers pursued careers in the art industry under the guidance and inspiration of Ho, Chau Chu.
In 1955, Ho, Chau Chu married elementary school classmate Zhong Yu-Zhen.
Ho Chau Chu’s granddaughter is Taiwanese artist Elaine Ho.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Scenery．Lyric．Ho, Chau Chu. artist-magazine. 2013. ISBN 9789860381573. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Spacetime．Superimposition．Modern Sentiment:A 90-year Retrospective of HO Chau-Chu. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. 2021. ISBN 9789865324643. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Seize the Time: HO,Chau Chu’s Arts. National Hsinchu Living Arts Center. 2013. ISBN 9789860379914. Search this book on
- ↑ "豐采生命的永恆頌歌，何肇衢不朽的畫藝人生".
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