2022.08.09

Peace that we love 劉其偉 紀念展 2022 | PEACE THAT WE LOVE Max Liu Commemorative Exhibition 2022

首都藝術中心將於劉其偉逝世二十周年、同一百一十歲誕辰之際,很榮幸能與藝非凡美術館合作,策畫「Peace that we love - 劉其偉紀念展」,精選劉其偉具代表性的五十餘件作品,以「半島史詩」、「族群跨越」、「生命哲思」、「角色越界」、「野性呼喚」、「愛神性崇拜」、「節氣民俗」七大主題,展出類型橫跨早年於越南、菲律賓、緬甸、台灣等地寫生,以及探索肯亞、所羅門群島、沙勞越、巴布亞新幾內亞、南非、婆羅洲、中南半島、菲島和蘭嶼等原始文化之美,甚至翻玩個人形象及致敬前人的創作題材,及充滿童趣的豐沛想像,將不凡的生命歷程留下諸多的美好呈現。展覽將舉行於8月13日至9月10日,開幕暨現場導覽為8月13日下午三點,我們誠摯邀請您的蒞臨。


熱愛生命,尊重自然,是劉其偉一生從未停歇的呼籲,歷經兩次大戰的震懾與撼動,更曾以個人站在生態保育立場撰文表達對戰爭的深切憾痛,尤其近年的新冠疫情以及近日的烏俄戰事,可見人類始終無法從歷史習得教訓。劉其偉以廣闊的藝術視野,上壽之年仍心繫研究與創作,孜孜不倦,更藉藝術、文化、教育等面向,致力傳遞生命哲思及能量。此次回顧展的主題 “Peace that we love”,即是源自劉其偉於作品《和平馬》即《婆憂鳥》中均曾鑿刻的銘語,期盼藉由此次展出,回顧、紀念和省思當代生命的存有價值意義。


百一其偉.藝術永存─記劉其偉辭世20周年特展
文/蕭瓊瑞


劉其偉(1912-2002)是戰後台灣備受大眾喜愛和專家肯定的一位水彩畫家,其原因固然是作品本身的精湛與獨特,加上個人鮮明的生命特質與魅力;但另一個因素,則是1990年代之後,透過台北首都藝術中心以石印複製版畫所進行的介紹與推廣,成為廣為人知的藝術家。

2022年,是劉其偉逝世20周年、也是一百一○歲誕辰的紀念,首都藝術中心基於對劉老的崇敬與懷念,特在台南藝非凡美術館舉辦紀念特展,將多年來珍藏的劉老真蹟一次公開,分享喜愛劉其偉作品的觀眾與藏家。

出生福建的劉其偉,是家中獨子,但出生不久,母親就過世,父親管教極嚴,又面臨生意失敗,欠下大筆債務;劉其偉9歲時便舉家移居日本橫濱,不幸又遭遇1923年的關東大地震,全家面臨幾乎斷炊的困境。在無力升學的情形下,劉其偉以半工半讀方式,完成神戶英語神學院的學業,再以華僑身份報名官費留學考試,考取東京鐵道局教習所專門部電氣科,學習電力配電及送電工程。

電氣科畢業後,為還公費,返回中國,任職天津「公大紗廠」,後又受聘廣東中山大學電機工程系擔任助教,並結識杭州姑娘顧慧珍小姐,成為終生相守的患難夫婦。在中日戰爭的烽火中,舉家遷往雲南避難,劉其偉則投身軍旅,一直到1949年隨著國民政府來到台灣,服務於台灣電力公司,也在偶然機緣下,到台北中山堂觀看一位工程師畫家香洪的展覽,兩人成為好友,也引領劉其偉進入水彩創作的生命歷程。那年,他已經是38歲的年紀。

很快的時間裡,劉其偉的作品就開始在「台灣省全省美術展覽會」(簡稱「全省美展」)中獲得入選,並成為「中國水彩畫會」核心成員,更憑著他優異的外語能力和研究精神,譯著了台灣第一本較具系統的水彩畫教科書《水彩畫法》,為資訊匱乏的台灣50年代,提供了寶貴的繪畫工具書。

此時,劉其偉也因外語能力,轉任美國海軍駐台基地工作,恰逢越戰爆發,自願前往越南支援,也因此激發了他水彩創作的第一個知名系列《中南半島》,越戰結束後個展於台北國立歷史博物館,造成轟動;除了輕靈、流暢的風景速寫外,《動物系列》包括:水牛、斑馬、鳥類…..等,也開始成為他創作的重要題材。

鳥類中的「婆憂鳥」是劉其偉創作中最廣為人知、也備受喜愛的代表作。作品背後是劉其偉幼年時祖母講給他聽的一個動人故事:「從前,有一個窮苦人家的小孩,在端午節時想吃粽子,但老祖母沒錢買米包粽子,只好用泥土做了一個假粽子來哄孫子開心。沒想到孫子卻把粽子吃了,不幸死了。傷心的老祖母日夜流淚、思念孫子。孫子就變成了一隻美麗的小鳥,每到黃昏,就會停在門前的大樹上,不斷地啼叫『婆憂』、『婆憂』….。」這就是「婆憂鳥」的由來。

劉其偉的生命走過患難,但親情、自然都是他永恆歌讚的主題、創作的動力。

基於對人與大自然的喜愛,劉其偉也多次進行原住民族的人類學田野調查,並著作出版,包括:菲律賓、台灣蘭嶼及非洲、大洋洲等地;因此,在工程師、畫家之外,又多了一個人類學家與冒險家的身份;而人類學家與冒險家的經歷,也提供了畫家更多元、深刻的題材與視野。

此次在台南藝非凡美術館的展出,作品跨越半世紀,從1970年屬於《二十四節氣》系列的〈立春〉,到生命最後一年(2002)的〈Love&Peace〉等,將近40件的作品,都是藝術家創作生涯中的代表性作品。

一個終生以「愛」和「生態環保」為關懷的藝術家,用作品抒發情感,也用作品向世人吶喊;在他110歲冥誕、也是辭世20周年之際,睹藝思情,不禁興發「生命有限.藝術永恆」的深沈喟嘆。

Life is Short, Art is Long.─Special Exhibition in Memory of Max LIU’S 110th Birthday and 20th Death Anniversary

Text/ Chong-Ray HSIAO Prof.


Max LIU (1912-2002) is a watercolor artist in post-war Taiwan beloved by the public and recognized by professionals. The reason for this is the exquisiteness and uniqueness of the work itself, coupled with the distinctive characteristics and charm of the artist. In addition, the introduction and promotion of lithographic prints by the Capital Art Center in Taipei after the 1990s is another reason why Liu became a well-known artist.

In memory of Max Liu’s 20th death anniversary and 110th birthday in 2022, the Capital Art Center will hold a special commemorative exhibition at Mezzo Art in Tainan, showcasing all the original works of Liu it collected over the years to share with audiences and collectors who love Liu’s works.

Born in Fujian, Max Liu was the only son of his parents. His mother died soon after he was born. His father was extremely strict and heavily in debt due to the business failure. Liu and his family moved to Yokohama in Japan when he was 9 years old. Unfortunately, they encountered the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, making his family struggle to put food on the table. Even though his family couldn’t support his studies, Liu still managed to work his way through school. After completing his studies at Kobe English Theological School, Liu was admitted to the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program as an overseas Chinese. He then went to the Department of Electrical Engineering, the special department of the Tokyo Railway Bureau of Japan, and studied electric power distribution and transmission engineering.

After graduating from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Liu returned to China and worked in the “Gongda Yarn Factory” in Tianjin to repay the public expenses. Later, he was employed as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, and met Huizhen Gu, a girl from Hangzhou. They got married and stayed together in times of adversity. During the Sino-Japanese War, his family sought asylum in Yunnan, while Liu joined the military. Until 1949, Liu came to Taiwan with the Nationalist government and served at the Taipower Company. He went to Taipei Zhongshan Hall once to visit the exhibition of Xianghong, who was an engineer and a painter. The two became friends, and Xianghong led Liu into the world of watercolor paintings. At that time, Liu was already 38 years old.

In a short time, Liu’s work was selected for the “Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition” (referred to as “Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibition”), and he became a core member of the “Chinese Watercolor Society”. Moreover, with Liu’s excellent foreign language skills and the spirit of research, the translation of Watercolor Techniques, the first systematic textbook for watercolor painting in Taiwan, was published, providing valuable painting references in the 1950s when information was inadequate in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Liu was transferred to the United States Navy base in Taiwan because of his foreign language skills. Coinciding with the outbreak of the Vietnam War, he volunteered for military service in Vietnam, which inspired his first well-known watercolor series Indochina Peninsula. His solo exhibition held in the National Museum of History in Taipei after the end of the Vietnam War caused a sensation. In addition to the agile and smooth landscape sketches, the Animal Series, such as buffalo, zebra, birds, etc., also became important subjects of his creation.

Among the bird series, Po Yo Bird is Liu’s most widely known and beloved masterpiece, based on a story told to him by his grandmother when he was a child. The story goes like this: Once upon a time, a child from a poor family wanted to eat zongzi (Chinese sticky rice dumpling) during the Dragon Boat Festival. However, the old grandmother couldn’t afford rice for making zongzi; she could only make one out of clay to make him happy. Unfortunately, the grandson ate the fake zongzi and died. The sad old grandmother missed her grandson so much that she cried day and night. Therefore, the grandson turned into a beautiful bird which perched on the big tree in front of the door every evening and cried, “Po Yo”, “Po Yo”. This is the origin of the Po Yo Bird.

Even though Liu had gone through adversity in life, family love and nature were the themes he continued to eulogize. They were the source of inspiration that drove him to create.

Based on his love for human-being and nature, Liu had been to the Philippines, Orchid Island in Taiwan, Africa, Oceania and other places to conduct anthropological field research on indigenous peoples, and he had published books. Therefore, besides being an engineer and painter, Liu was also an anthropologist and adventurer. The experience of being an anthropologist and adventurer provided him with diverse and profound themes and insights.

The exhibition at Mezzo Art in Tainan will showcase nearly forty representative works of Liu’s artistic career spanning half a century, from the Start of Spring in the 24 Solar Terms Series in 1970 to Love&Peace in 2002, the last year of his life.

As an artist who shows solicitude for “love” and “ecology” throughout his life, Liu expresses his feelings to the world with his work. On the artist’s 110th birthday and 20th death anniversary, seeing these works brings to mind the great artist and reminds us that “life is short, and art is long.”


藝術家ARTISTS