Ministry of Culture-Performance Venues & Architectural Heritage

Did You Know That … ?

• Although Li Mei-shu (李梅樹) found his artistic calling from an early age, his parents wished for him to embark on a political career. In a strategic move to dissuade Li from pursuing art studies in Japan, Li was married to a lady of his parents' choosing upon graduating from university in 1922.

• With the financial support of his elder brother Liu Ching-kang (劉清港), a western doctor who took up their mother's family name, the 27-year-old Li was finally able to achieve his goal of studying in Japan in 1928.

• Fauvism became a dominant painting style during his time at the Tokyo University of the Arts, but Li remained true to his artistic ideology, saying that only realism would allow him to capture the beauty of his rural hometown and family life.

Read more about the late artist here or scroll down for his paintings.