臺南美術史

Tsai Ma-Da, The Autumn of Hutoupi, selected into the Western-painting Division in the 3rd Taiten (Taiwan Art Exhibition), 1929.

Tsai Ma-Da was born in Tainan. He had studied painting in Beijing and excelled in Western-style and Japanese-style painting, making him one of the few painters who had been selected into both divisions. Tsai was selected into the Taiten (Taiwan Art Exhibition) five times, and was awarded the “Tainichi Prize” (臺日賞). The Autumn of Hutoupi depicts the hills around Hutoupi in modern Xinhua District, which was the very first reservoir recorded in the history of Taiwan. The reservoir was built for the purpose of agricultural irrigation, and its embankments were built to beautify the lakeshores during the period of Japanese rule. In 1929, it was voted by the readers of
Taiwan Nichi Nichi Shinpo (Taiwan Daily News) as one of the “Eight Views and Twelve Scenic Spots of Taiwan” (臺灣八景十二勝). The painter perhaps visited the scenic spot due to its fame, and painted this work in the same year. The Autumn of Hutoupi shows an expansive lake surface surrounded by lush greenery. Although it is not possible to see this painting in color now, based on the variation of coloring from dark shades to lighter ones and vice versa, one can infer that the forest and the lake were probably painted in the same tone, giving this work a quality of being highly unified and well-organized. Meanwhile, it is one of the few works depicting Tainan’s landscape that portrays a scenery (in former Tainan County) outside the city of Tainan.

References:
Liu, Yu-Chi. “The Autumn of Hutoupi.” Missing Pieces – Taifuten Historical Archives. https://taifuten.com/oblect/%e8%99%8e%e9%a0%ad%e5%9f%a4%e4%b9%8b%e7%a7%8b/#squelch-taas-toggle-shortcode-content-2 (viewed on 2023.11.5)
Lee, Shu-Pei. “A Study of Landscapes of Tainan in the Catalogues of the Taiten and the Futen during the Period of Japanese Rule.” The 2022 NCAF Visual Arts Grant for Study and Research – 2nd Phase, 2023.