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During his phase of abstract expressionism in the 1960s, Lee Tze-Fan created a group of works in abstract style that met the challenge of modern art head on. His compositions tended to be geometrically segmented, with forms more planar and simplified. Lee also excelled at using a combination of different techniques as he eagerly sought to create a personal style of his own in which to imbue emotions. In addition, during the period from 1970 to 1975, Lee Tze-Fan also tried his hand at monochrome ink painting, ultimately developing a fusion of monochrome ink and watercolor painting techniques that reveal his pursuit of innovation within tradition.
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Deep Clouds (Cross-Island Roadway)
Lee Tze-Fan (1907-1989), dated 1974
Watercolors on paper, 80 x 103 cm
Collection of the Lee Family |
T'ien-hsiang, not far from Taiwan's East Coast along the Cross-Island Roadway, is deep in the mountains and often surrounded by clouds and mist. Using watercolors, the artist was able to convey the unique atmospheric conditions of this locale. The rather bold and animated touches of the brush are still orderly and, when combined with the intensity of the color patches, create for a luxuriant, direct approach. The several trees in the left foreground were done with rougher brushwork of ink, balancing the dramatic imagery on the right side
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The Old Home at Wu-ch'i (Railing)
Lee Tze-Fan (1907-1989), date unknown
Watercolors on paper, 55 x 75 cm
Collection of the Lee Tze-Fan Memorial Art Gallery |
The old home of the artist's wife was an elegant, traditional courtyard building with green vases inlaid into the surrounding walls. This painting deals with the old family home in Wu-ch'i.
The artist has reduced the actual scenery into a composition of dots, lines, and patches. Along with surface texture and qualitative variations, Lee has combined, adapted, reinforced, or reduced them to form a composition of cool colors and considerable mystery. Controlling the natural harmony of the elements of beauty and life, the artist has created a rich and spatial effect, contrasting solid and void, the interaction between front and back, and the expansion and contraction of space for an extremely modern approach.
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