蔡茂松   Cai, Mao-Song   1943~

Born in Yizhu township, Chiayi county, Taiwan, in 1943, Mao-Song Cai graduated from the Division of Chinese Painting, National School of Arts, and completed courses at the Graduate School of Art (teacher formation class) at National Taiwan Normal University. Following the style of landscape painting master Juan-Fu Fu, Cai has been able to use his solid mastery of ink painting to break the traditional stereotypes of the genre and distinguish himself from the modernist school which is prone to unrestrained exaggeration. He has stressed the need for “creating personalized painting characteristics through the experience of sketching.” Basking in the smell of the soil, and in the sunshine and colors of Taiwan, nurtured by the charm of Taiwan’s picturesque scenery, Cai has converted from traditional ink painting to his interpretation of the beauty of Taiwan. Due to Cai’s particular fascination with the majestic grandeur and gorgeous scenery along the Central Cross-lsland Highway, his early works are permeated with masculine beauty. However, his later works, much closer to everyday life, have shifted to a gentle and soothing style. By admiring his works, one can easily observe the combination of modernity, locality and his personality. In his lifetime, Western style has swept all over Taiwan, but Cai unyieldingly invited fellow enthusiasts and students to organize painting associations, proclaiming that “Taiwan’s vernacular style cannot be Westernized,” hence establishing the distinguished local characteristics of Taiwan’s ink painting. As one of the most prestigious figures in Taiwan’s art circles, Mao-Song Cai has received dozens of awards, including the first prizes of the National Fine Arts Exhibition, the Taiwan Province Art Exhibition, and the Taipei Art Exhibition, the Military Gold Statue Award, the Ministry of Education Chinese Painting Creation Award for Junior High School Teachers, and the Taiwan Garrison Command Gold Circle Award. He also won the 22nd Chinese Writers’ & Artists’ Association Medal of Literature and Arts and the 10th National Medal of Literature and Arts. Furthermore, Cai has fully engaged in art education for nearly 40 years and has contributed enormously to the construction of the ink painting education system.