Bio created for Fingerhut Group Publishers

 

Dr. T.F. Chen

 

Dr. T. F. Chen was born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1936.  The heritage of the indigenous peoples, the impact of Chinese and Japanese culture, and the westernizing influences dating from the Dutch occupation in 1624 made Taiwan a country of cultural multiplicity.  Chen was exposed to this variety of influences early in his education.

 

Western principles of art first attracted Chen at the age of 14, when he discovered a small library of Japanese books devoted to European art movements – most notably impressionism and postimpressionism.  His early sketchbooks were devoted to self-portraits and copies of masterworks by such artists as van Gogh, Matisse, and Chagall that he had found in books.

 

After graduation from the National Taiwan University, Chen traveled to Paris in 1963 on a scholarship awarded by the French government.  During his 12-year stay in the City of Lights, he attended the Sorbonne and simultaneously, for 7 years, studied painting at L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.  In 1965, he received an M.A. in French contemporary literature and then, in 1970, was the first Taiwanese to receive a Ph.D. in the history of modern art from the prestigious Sorbonne.  It was during this period of study, in 1969, when he developed the theory of “five-dimensional universal culture” and initiated “neo-iconography” in his paintings.

 

Subsequently, Dr. Chen has had more than 80 solo exhibitions in Europe, America, and Asia, has published several books, and was twice elected chairperson of the Fine Arts Section for the International Conference on the Arts.  Chen’s works are in many private and many public collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the White House.