Of the many masterful works entered in the Sixth NTD International Figure Painting Competition, the silver award-winning “The Infinite Grace of Buddha” stood out as particularly impressive. Each panel of the triptych, an artwork in three sections, was painted by a different artist: Hung-Yu Chen, Yuan Li, and Shao-Han Tsai.
The monumental right panel of the triptych, painted by Taiwanese artist Mr. Tsai, depicts the ageless theme of eternal punishment. At the top of the panel, a semicircle of Buddhas recede into saturated clouds while a golden wheel presses down, emanating rays of light that penetrate the darkness. Below, an embroiled whirlwind of tortuous figures are plunged into the burning abyss that opens in boundless oceans.
The right panel of "The Infinite Grace of Buddha" by Shao-Han Tsai. (NTD International Figure Painting Competition)
Balanced by a scene of salvation in the left panel and divine triumph in the center panel, the sophisticated composition and choreography of its numerous figures rivals the drama of the Italian Baroque masters. The cosmic vistas along the vertical canvas also evoke the nebulously shifting viewpoints in a Chinese hanging scroll of sublime landscapes.
Mr. Tsai’s artistic path was tightly connected with NTD’s International Figure Painting Competitions. His first teacher, Bei Cui (Tsui Hua Yang) , won the bronze medal at the 2nd annual NTD Painting Competition. She laid the foundation for Mr. Tsai’s artistic training, introducing him to drawing, watercolor, ink painting, and calligraphy.
Starting in middle school, Mr. Tsai trained in the studio of Yuan Li, a Japanese painter and gold medalist from the 1st NTD competition. Under his tutelage, Mr. Tsai received formal training in the European artistic tradition. Having continued his mentorship with Mr. Li for over a decade, they conceived the triptych painting “The Infinite Grace of Buddha” with Ms. Chen, a fellow student.
Hung-Yu Chen (L), Yuan Li (not pictured), and Shao-Han Tsai won the Silver Award at the Sixth NTD International Figure Painting Competition on Jan. 18, 2024, at the Salmagundi Club in New York City. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
An Interview With the Artist
I had the chance to meet Mr. Tsai at the finalist exhibition in New York, and invited him to share a little about the creation of this work and his experience with classical oil painting.
The Epoch Times: Could you talk about the subject matter and the technique of your entry this year? What was the process of creating a monumental piece like this?
Shao-Han Tsai: I was mainly responsible for the right panel “The Infinite Grace of the Buddha,” including the initial composition, sketches, small drafts, photographing live models, and painting on canvas. It represents the conflict of different spiritual forces in the universe and their concrete manifestations in the human world.
The visual centerpiece of the painting is the golden Falun [a law wheel comprised of the Buddhist Srivatsa and Daoist yin-yang]. Above it are images of the Buddhas, who represent the positive forces of the universe, and below are the depraved spirits that represent the negative forces. The Falun itself symbolizes the mechanism of the universe, the “law” of the universe.
A detail of the Falun from the right panel of "The Infinite Grace of Buddha" by Shao-Han Tsai. NTD International Figure Painting Competition
A detail of the depraved spirits from the right panel of "The Infinite Grace of Buddha" by Shao-Han Tsai. NTD International Figure Painting Competition
As rays of light radiate from the Falun, the depraved spirits that have deviated from their good nature fall down with swirling clouds. This negative force is reflected in the human world as the modern wave of communism, which, historically, is not just a political idea or a government model. Rather, it is rooted in a set of antidivine ideologies, that have had a great impact on religious beliefs, morality, education, culture and geopolitics for over a century. It actually opens up a bottomless pit of hell for mankind, symbolically represented at the bottom of this work alongside a hammer and sickle symbol.
From a technical point of view, the composition draws from many artworks in the Western tradition—especially themes of the “Last Judgment.”
Making a multifigure composition is very challenging: How to grasp the size, number, and spatial relationship between the characters, ... while showing the proper degree of grandeur, these need to be experimented with and adjusted over and over again. The initial stage of the creation saw the production of nearly 30 versions of the sketch, and we spent three to four days photographing live models.
"The Last Judgement," 1653, by Jacob Jordaens. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. An example of a multifigure work depicting the Last Judgement. Public Domain
The Epoch Times: In your view, what is special about creating art in the classical tradition in comparison to other contemporary methods?
Mr. Tsai: I think there is a big difference between the making of classical and modern art. The purpose of classical art is to relate the different levels of beauty and truth that the artist can perceive—not to pursue creativity and novelty ... or to express one’s own emotions. I also try to achieve this in my own works.
Making a painting involves a lot of specific details from composition to technique, and difficult problems may arise in the process of execution. To resolve them, one needs to rely on years of training in basic skills and references to past masterpieces [and] sometimes on the accumulation of personal experience and exploration. At other times, one can only await the chanced inspiration from heaven. Each new piece is a journey full of trials, ordeals, and opportunities for improvement.
Like a process of self-cultivation and enlightenment, the ultimate value of classical art lies in the fact that it demonstrates its creator’s life and state of being. Otherwise, the presentation of any visual effect is, at most, a permutation of shapes and colors.
The Epoch Times: From the perspective of a classical artist, how do you appreciate the masterpieces throughout the ages? For beginners and some of us amateurs, how do you identify a good painting and understand its superior techniques?
Mr. Tsai: I personally recommend beginners in classical art to study an edition of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” illustrated by the 19th-century French painter Gustave Doré. On the one hand, Doré absorbed the compositional and chiaroscuro effects of the classical masters, and was highly accomplished in his ability to narrate a scene. On the other hand, the “Divine Comedy” itself is rich in imaginative scenes, from the strange and horrible “Inferno” to the holy and beautiful “Paradiso,” which is very interesting and inspiring to read.
“Dante and Virgil in the Ninth Circle of Hell,” 1861 by Gustave Doré. Oil on Canvas. Municipal Museum of Bourg-en-Bresse, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. Public Domain
The Epoch Times: How are you inspired by the history of European art? Why do you want to preserve and promote this artistic tradition today? As a painter of Chinese descent, how do you see the differences and commonalities between Eastern and Western classical traditions?
Mr. Tsai: I studied Chinese in college and have a little foundation in ancient literature. I have always been very interested in traditional Eastern culture. At the same time, I have also noticed that there is a deep connection in the West between the history of art and [philosophy]. The formation of classical art in Europe is inextricably linked to its philosophical and theological understandings of the universe.
Rather than comparing the superficial differences between Eastern and Western art, I am more concerned about the traditional cultural beliefs and cosmology behind them. I feel that there is much more in common between them than most people think. Different nations and countries around the world have different customs, habits, temperaments, and predilections, but the artistic concepts or aesthetic principles that have become canons over the millennia are often rooted in something more fundamental and universal. This is probably what is meant by the Chinese saying, “A technique may be refined to reach the Tao, and art may channel the divine.”
I believe that Eastern and Western artistic traditions are unified in terms of the “Tao”—the Way of the universe. I am enthusiastic about understanding these universal and fundamental cultural values, because I think that they must have touched upon some truths about humankind, life, and the universe.
I think the whole of human civilization is facing a kind of degradation caused by the post-modern disintegration of all traditional networks and systems. Now, many people have a flat and fragmented understanding of things, and they are gradually losing the ability to think metaphysically about various cultural phenomena—including art.
The creation of classical art is a kind of inward practice, and it is only through practice that we can really reach its deeper meanings. I think this is the reason why I am willing to continue on this path.
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