Forest at Night Dated 1969 Oils on canvas, 97.2 x 105.2 cm From the Collection of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum

The relationship between art and life was the subject of much debate in aesthetics and art criticism of the 20th century. Some artists advocated a return to pure art, because they were not satisfied with painting that pursued the imitation of reality or that recreated the world as seen by the eye. Such artists were also confronted with the advent of photography. Consequently, they turned to focusing on painting as an arrangement on a flat surface of such basic elements as dots, lines, and patches. Abstractionist tendencies emerged and grew. Though a major trend since the late 19th century, differing aesthetics and talents of painters led to various degrees and forms of expression. Liao Chi-chun's paintings never belonged to the camp of realism. In 1957, Liu Kuo-sung and other artists formed the May Painting Society and stimulated a new movement in painting, and Liao was a supporter of them. In 1962, Liao was invited to visit and travel through America and Europe, where he was able to come directly in contact with contemporary abstract expressionist styles. Therefore, his works in the 1960s followed this trend, and this painting can be considered as one of his most daring experiments in this direction. This painting has a specific title, indicating the subject represents various flora and fauna in a forest at night. However, can we actually distinguish the forms that Liao has rendered? The white lines suggest an owl perched on a tree branch and what looks like a small monkey is squatting at the other side. However, they seem to float on the surface, because their outlines and forms do not stand out clearly. Against the suggestive darkness of night, lines and colors on the surface mingle to create a complex scene. Though perhaps this work also appears chaotic, it also brims with a sense of order created by abundance and harmony. This painting appears to be one of the extremes that Liao Chi-chun took in terms of abstraction.