Leisure Art Center was originally located in the Shih-lin District of Taipei. Mr. Huang began the business by selling reproductions of world masterpieces. Since he also cared about the development of local art, Mr. Huang made it a point to get acquainted with people in intellectual circles, such as Ms. Wang Paiy-uan and Mr. Wang Chang-hsiung. Then Huang became an agent specializing in the impressionist art of early Taiwan artists, including those of the early generation , such as Chin Cheng-bo, Liao Ji-chun, Guo Bo-chuan, Li Shi-qiao, and Chen De-wang. Huang also collected the art of the younger generation, including works by such artists as Chen Yin-Hui, Chen Jin-rong, He Zhao-gu, and Lin Hsin-yueh. In the development of Leisure Art there have been many difficulties, set backs, and frustrations, but Mr. Huang has always stuck to his belief that you should hold to the major principles and not worry about small losses. For this reason, the Leisure Art Center has remained strong despite the recession in the art market during the last two years.
Huang Ching-chuan thinks running a gallery is very different from running other businesses. It takes a sense of cultural mission to endure. The person in charge cannot simply focus on profit because the value of the products is ultimately spiritual. In a word, art works are not daily necessities that people must have to survive. Mr. Huang thinks his business should help develop ties among art agents, artists, collecters, and art critics so they can learn from each other and make progress together. They should share a "Common Culture Life."
Huang especially respected the art collecter Mr. Leu Yun-lin who passed away not long ago. Mr. Leu started collecting the works of Taiwan artists forty or fifty years ago when times were difficult. In view of the recent market success of early Taiwan artists, Mr. Huang deeply admires Mr. Leu's outstanding taste. Mr. Leu once told Mr. Huang, "If you don't use keen judgment or aggressive ambition in choosing the best three out of three thousand works, you can never be a leader in this business. Even one who sees a lot and listens a lot cannot always penetrate the collusive construction in the field." Leu collected pieces from more than 100 artists, but he thought only a few artists were timeless. In his view, these included Chin Cheng-bo, Chen De-wang, Liao Ji-chun, Liao De-cheng, and Hong Rui-ling. Even though good artists are rare, Leu comforted Huang by saying "The greatest fun in collecting art is to see the unseen ahead and to prove your foresight afterward." Mr. Leu supported his estimation of Huang's ability as an agent by buying two pieces of modern art from him. This made Huang happy and made him feel he had an intimate friend in art. Huang says "I would really have been incapable if I couldn't have been a successful agent for such artists."
Mr. Huang sees the Leisure Art Center as a vehicle for modern artists trained abroad. He thinks these artists who have studied primarily in Southern Europe are very compatible with Taiwan's development, not only in terms of geography, but also in terms of cultural concepts. When Taiwan rejoins the United Nations in the next century, it will be very easy to promote this new Taiwan art that is from the nothern part of earth, but which has a Southern Style. Mr. Huang notes that even though Spanish modernization lags behind Taiwan's, it has porduced world masters such as Picasso, Miro and Dali. This makes him even more determined to realize his great dream of finding and cultivating more talented Taiwan artists.
|
|
