The Glasses of the Painter

作品賞析

The artist Hsieh Mu-Chi is good at bringing together elements from different times and places, or combining the characteristics of previous artists’ works with memories from his own life. In The Painter’s Glasses, the image of the sugar cane comes from a poster by Lin Yushan, and the brown coconut trees derive from a plein air painting that Chen Cheng-Po once did in the Taipei Botanical Garden. The glasses, green glass case, and the red seal paste container were those used by Kuo Hsueh-Hu when he was alive. He also put into the picture his own glasses and the yellow tape commonly used in painting, to show the connections among the viewing aids and painting supplies of artists of different eras. It symbolizes how the artist places himself in their midst, drawing connections among them, and reflecting his own situation as an artist.