Tsai Yun-Yen

TAIWAN, Taipei

Tsai Yun-Yen, originally named Tsai Yung and also known as Cai Yunyan, was a painter who specialized in working with gouache. He taught himself to paint and studied books by artists such as the well-known Japanese painter, Kinoshita Seigai. His paintings were exhibited at the Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition on several occasions.
In 1941 his gouache painting, Shrine, was selected to be on display in the 3rd Taiwan Governmental Fine Arts Exhibition. The painting, now kept at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, depicts a residence in which an image of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is enshrined above a dining room table. The scene is realistically and elegantly illustrated with soft, flowing lines and an emphasis on the reflections of light.