Ink wash painter Au Ho-nien (歐豪年) passed away on Apr. 25 at the age of 90. Culture Minister Shih Che mourns upon hearing this news. He praised Au, who was the bearer of the Lingnan School art style, for his contribution to art education in Taiwan. The Minister also highlighted Au’s remarkable achievements as one of the icons of Chinese aesthetics that influenced local and overseas artists.
Au was born into a family of scholars in Guangdong Province, China, in 1935. In 1952, after moving to Hong Kong, he studied Lingnan School ink wash painting under the guidance of renowned artist Chao Shao-an (趙少昂). In 1960, he was appointed to teach Chinese paintings at Chung Chi College.
In 1968, Au was invited to participate in an art exhibition in Taiwan organized by the National Museum of History. Subsequently, he was appointed as faculty at the College of Chinese Culture (now Chinese Culture University) and moved to Taiwan. He established the Au Ho-nien Cultural Foundation in 2000, and was conferred the permanent honorary director of the Lingnan Fine Arts Museum of the Academia Sinica (中央研究院嶺南美術館) in 2002.
Au’s paintings encompass various themes, including mountains, rivers, people, plants, birds, and wildlife. Recognized as a representative painter from the Eastern Hemisphere, Au was often invited to display his artworks in domestic and international exhibitions. The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts celebrated his achievements by featuring him in its artist biography collection published in 2013.