Most of Chen Shang-Chien’s works are categorized as war paintings, including depictions of military aircraft deployed in the Formosa Air Battle during World War II. Chen begins each work with thorough research, drawing on old maps, military archives, historical photographs, and fieldwork to trace and verify history. He therefore pursues geographical orientation and topographical relationships with exceptional precision. This approach defines his distinctive style, and his compositions are imbued with a restrained, quiet atmosphere grounded in meticulous historical research.

Chiu Wei-Hsiang was born in Dayuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan, now the site of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis development. Through a gaze shaped by recollection, he depicts old houses expropriated and demolished by large-scale urban development, as well as life in his hometown and fragments of cherished memories. He is especially drawn to the people and things that appear and disappear around him. For this reason, even his works based on direct observation are often abstract, yet they precisely capture the atmosphere of each moment and convey a deeply humane sensibility.

Hu Jia-Qing works from life, taking the things around him as direct subject matter. Scenes in his room, sheet-metal houses seen from his window, elevated bridges, and even everyday moments with his girlfriend all become motifs in his work. Tablet devices have allowed him greater flexibility in both making and selecting subjects. Rather than needlessly beautifying or elevating the scenes before him, Hu places importance on how to honestly represent the present moment. As a result, his works reflect an ordinary yet straightforward sensibility toward contemporary life.

Lin Chuan-Chu is accomplished in both calligraphy and painting, creating ink wash painting that incorporate his deep knowledge of literature and art history. Born in the mountainous area of Wanli, New Taipei City, Taiwan, where he continues to live today, Lin works with paper and water-based pigments to depict mountains and seas in Taiwan and beyond. Deeply versed in traditional East Asian ink painting, he fuses his travel experiences with the subtle qualities of brush and ink, freeing landscape expression from traditional conventions and presenting a new way of perceiving nature within painting.

Tsai Tsung-Yu’s plein-air subjects are rarely grand natural landscapes. Instead, he turns to the absurd everyday scenes around him: Guanyin statues abandoned by rural roads, the Zengwen Reservoir in Taiwan releasing floodwater, and trains speeding through the rain. His subject matter and methods of painting are both eccentric. Tsai often begins a new work only when he has arrived at a new way of painting. Unusual for a plein-air painter, this attitude reflects his belief that painting should not be mere repetition; each work should give form to a different pictorial idea.

Yang Fu-An creates works from life based on urban landscapes, interior spaces, and numerous portraits, closely engaging with the visual information and popular imagery that permeate contemporary society. By editing and reconfiguring images, he freely traverses the boundary between image and painting, creating new relationships between the two. For the artist, beauty and harmony are not the ultimate aims of his work; rather, he sees the essence of things in the imperfections that lie within reality.

Through pictorial imagery, Yang Lee explores the essence of human nature and various phenomena in contemporary society, reflecting the ideology of his time in his work. Many of his plein-air works to date have been created through digital painting, while in recent years he has also begun working in watercolor. For Yang, realism lies at the core of working from life: once an artist paints outdoors, the work should remain faithful to what is seen before them. Yet this does not mean simply reproducing the subject realistically. Rather, he regards both the choice of subject matter from a realist perspective and the development of previously unexplored forms of color expression as essential.

Painter. Born in Kochi Prefecture. Ishikawa studied at Fudosha under Koyama Shotaro and later helped establish the Taiheiyo Art Association. He subsequently founded the Shigenkai. In his early years, he painted portraits of women, but later turned to landscape painting, developing a bright, Impressionist style. He also made significant contributions to art education. Ishikawa served as a councillor of Nitten and as a juror for the Imperial Art Exhibition and the Shin-Bunten. He received the Imperial Prize of the Japan Art Academy.

Nihonga painter. Born in Nagano Prefecture. His given name was Tadashi. Saigo graduated from the Tokyo Fine Arts School. He first studied under Kano Tomonobu, and while still a student, his talent was recognized by Hashimoto Gaho. After graduation, he became an assistant professor at the same school. He took part in the founding of the Japan Art Institute and, together with Yokoyama Taikan, Shimomura Kanzan, and others, pursued experiments in the so-called mōrō-tai style. He produced bird-and-flower and landscape paintings marked by translucent color and refined brushwork. Later, he left the Japan Art Institute and traveled widely, including to Taiwan.