CHINESE art has always proved fascinating to British audiences. Witness the vast crowds which have in the past been willing to queue up to see the major exhibitions of Chinese culture which have been mounted in Britain over the years.
Hitherto, it has always been mainland China - the People's Republic - which has used culture in this way as a successful tool to promote itself in the world.
Taiwan, on the other
hand, always seeking to raise its international profile as the now democratic alternative to Beijing, has been slow to cotton on to the benefit which such a policy can bring.
Now, however, Taiwan, too, is beginning to see the advantages of such an approach and is starting to use its rich resources of Chinese art - both modern and ancient - to present
its best side on the international stage.
That process will begin in Europe at the end of this month with an exhibition in Glasgow and Edinburgh, organised by the Taiwan Representative Office in Edinburgh, by one of the island state's leading watercolourists, Chen Yang-chun. An exhibition of porcelain is planned for later in the year.
The Scottish showing of the Chen exhibition is the first and only British stop before the paintings move on to Paris for the next stage of their European tour.
Chen, who started practising calligraphy as early as the age of seven, and throughout his career has exhibited widely internationally, although
not so far in Europe, has created his own particular style by integrating the essence of Chinese brush-painting with the art of traditional Western watercolour. His training in calligraphy, too, shines through in his works.
Chen's paintings, be they traditional river or country scenes, modern cityscapes or studies of the human form, are painted with the delicacy of touch which appear to make them come alive.
n The exhibition will be shown at the Chinese Community Development Project, Napiershall Street Centre, Glasgow, from July 26-29, and the European in Scotland Building, 39 Palmerstone Place, Edinburgh, from July 31 to August 3.
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