Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

Taipei Fine Arts Museum invites Professor Cheng Shan-hsi to create a New Year's print the nine seductive years. For the Year of the Gengyin Tiger, Cheng's theme is Winds of Change: The Ferocious Tiger Sparks Ambition and Stimulates Prosperity. To celebrate the Tiger Year’s coming, TFAM launched the Tiger Year’s Print today on the 8th of February, and announced the detail of Prize Draw Event. From the 9th to the 12th, February, every visitor to the museum will get one Prize Draw coupon for the chance to get one set of the New Year’s Print. Total 100 sets will be drawn in the museum lobby at 16:30, 12th February. Each print is signed by the artist and has its edition number. The tiger is a symbol of beauty, courage and power, and Professor Cheng has used bold brush strokes to outline a muscular and vigorous tiger's body. In his direct and lively style, Cheng portrays a tiger turning to face the viewer, flashing it's spirited eyes and baring its sharp teeth. The tiger's brownish-yellow fur with distinctive black and white stripes and upturned tail is set against a gold background, creating an atmosphere of overflowing prosperity. “2010” is written across the top of the print, and the theme along with “The 99th Year of The Republic” are written across the bottom. Cheng's rustic folk-art style has a traditional feel with modern flair, balancing perception and reason. In Professor Cheng Shan-hsi's life-long mission to revolutionize traditional ink painting, he has neither drawn exclusively from the old to embellish the new, nor quoted the West to enhance the East, but rather has blended diverse elements to create his own personal style. Cheng Shan-hsi： Professor Cheng was born in 1932 in Shima Township, Longxi County, Fujian Province. In 1953, he was in the first graduating class of the Art Department at Tainan Normal School (now National University of Tainan). In 1960, he graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at National Taiwan Normal University, and then went on to serve as an assistant at the Taiwan Provincial Taichung Normal School (now National Taichung University). In 1961, he joined the Art Society of Taiwan Center as a member of the western painting section. Also in that year, he assisted Professor Yen Shui-long in creating a porcelain mosaic at the Taichung Stadium. In 1977, Cheng Shan-hsi became a professor in the Art Department of National Taiwan Normal University. He was the winner of the the first National Award for the Arts in the Visual Art category. His major artworks have been collected by famous museums both in Taiwan and abroad for their distinctive style. Starting in 2001, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum has invited Cheng Shan-hsi to create an annual New Year print.