Accession Number
2006/1.104.1

Title
Taiwan Cross-Island Highway (Section 1)

Artist(s)
Chang Ku-nien

Object Creation Date
1967

Medium & Support
hanging scroll, ink and color on paper

Dimensions
4 ft. 11 5/8 in. x 32 3/8 in. (151.45 x 82.23 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Cheng-Yang and Mrs. Shirley Chang

Label copy
China, 1906–1987
Taiwan Cross-Island Highway
1967
Set of four hanging scrolls, ink and color on paper
Gift of Dr. Cheng-Yang and Mrs. Shirley Chang, 2006/1.104.1-4
This monumental work is comprised of four hanging scrolls, known as the screen
of connected scenes, or sea curtain format. It offers an awe-inspiring panoramic
view of Taroko Gorge, now one of Taiwan’s national parks. Chang was
classically trained and here he uses traditional brushwork to convey the
precipitous nature of the mountains and suggest the flourishing, moist vegetation.
At the same time, the painting has a refreshingly expressive quality not found in
traditional painting. The intense green and wet ink tones allow the viewer to
almost feel the freshness emitted by the lush plants and the vapor rising from the
rushing creeks in the deep valley. Yet this is not a faithful depiction of an actual
landscape. The painting is, rather, a synthesis of both the objective visual
appearance of the subject and the artist’s subjective experience of it. The artist
altered what he saw in order to convey both the most important qualities of the
place and the feelings it evoked in him. He notes in his inscription, “sublime and
bright—what opens in this enormous curtain.”

Physical Description
A panoramic view of the highway cutting across the Tarako Gorges, laid out in four connecting hanging scrolls.
Inscription: “sublime and bright--what opens in this enormous curtain (the connected hanging scrolls).”

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
hanging scroll

Additional Object Classification(s)
Painting

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
calligraphy (process)
hanging scrolls
ink
landscapes (environments)
mountains
roads