The Fifth Moon Group (), also known as the Fifth Moon Art Group, is a group of Chinese artists who pioneered the modern art movement in post-war Taiwan between the mid-1950s and the 1970s. Members of the group were born in Mainland China and later migrated to Taiwan. The heyday of the group came during the 1960s–70s, coinciding with the period of the Great Cultural Revolution in Mainland China. The Fifth Moon Group is closely related to and usually associated with the Eastern Painting Group (東方畫會) in membership, artistic works, and exhibitions.
Formation
The idea of the Fifth Moon Group came about as an answer to the group of friends’ growing discontent with the conservative and lackluster art scene in Taiwan. During their first three years of National Taiwan Normal University, the would-be members of the Fifth Moon Group visited the annual Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition and found the award-winning artworks to be poorly made and lacking in both diversity and variety. In their fourth year, the group attempted to participate, but they did not get accepted into the exhibition. Motivated by the incident, the group decided to hold their own exhibition; later, they received support from their university tutor.
In May 1957, the Fifth Moon Group was officially founded by a group of painters who were graduates from the Art Department at the National Taiwan Normal University (Traditional Chinese: 國立臺灣師範大學). The leading figure of the group was Liu Kuo-sung (Liu Guosong, 劉國松), and other core members included Chuang Tse (Zhuang Zhi, 莊喆), Fong Chung-Ray (Feng Zhongrui, 馮鍾睿), Kuo Tung-Jung (Guo Dongrong, 郭東榮), Li Fang-Chih (Li Fangzhi, 李芳枝), Kuo Yu-Lun (Guo Yulun, 郭豫倫), Chen Jing-Rong (陳景容), and Ku Fu-Sheng (Gu Fusheng, 顧福生). They were subsequently joined by other artists, including Chen Ting-shi (陳庭詩) and Han Hsiang-Ning (Han Xiangning, 韓湘寧).
Development
Artistic style
Since their emergence, members of the Fifth Moon Group have been reputed to be pioneers who modernized Chinese paintings and revolutionized the Taiwanese art scene.
While artists in the West had been developing and experimenting with new styles since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artists in China were still largely working in the style of social realism. Many were constrained by the pressure of traditional styles, and very few were able to produce works that could be considered modern. The Fifth Moon Group's emergence and works helped to pitch Chinese painting into the 20th century. Since the 1960s, the group became the pioneering art society in Taiwan, using the new modern style as their visual manifesto. The group's iconic style is a hybridization of bold brushstrokes of Eastern calligraphy tradition and the shapes and colors of Western aesthetics, characterized by an innovative representation of freedom, conceptualization, and format of painting.
Members
The founding members of the Fifth Moon Group include:
Chuang Tse (Zhuang Zhi, 莊喆), Fong Chung-Ray (Feng Zhongrui, 馮 鍾 睿), Kuo Tung-Jung (Guo Dongrong, 郭東榮), Li Fang-Chih (Li Fangzhi, 李芳枝), Kuo Yu-Lun (Guo Yulun, 郭豫倫), Chen Jing-Rong (陳景容), and Ku Fu-Sheng (Gu Fusheng, 顧福生), and they were subsequently joined by other artists including Chen Ting-shi (陳庭詩) and Han Hsiang-ning (Han Xiangning, 韓湘寧).
Kuo Yu-Lun (Guo Yulun, 郭豫倫) Li Fang-Chih (Li Fangzhi, 李芳枝) Liu Guosong (Liu Kuo-Sung, 劉國松) Guo Dongrong (Guo Dongrong, 郭東榮) Zheng Qiongjuan (Cheng Chiung-Chuan 鄭瓊娟 ) Chen Jingrong (Ch’en Ching-Jung, 陳景容)
Other members of the group include:
Chen Ting Shih (Ch’en T’ing-Shih, Chen Tingshi 陳庭詩) (1915–2002) Fong Chung-Ray (Feng Zhongrui 馮鐘睿) (1933) Hung Hsien (Hong Xian / Margaret Chang 鄭瓊娟 ) (1933)
When Liu Kuo-sung went to the United States in 1966, he invited Margaret Chang to join the Fifth Moon Group's exhibition. During the 1970s, she participated in many exhibitions of the group.
Chuang Che (Zhuang Zhe) Hu Chi-Chung (Hu Qizhong) Han Xiangning Liao Jichun (Liao Chi-chun) Sun Duoci Zhang Longyan
Exhibitions
On May 10, 1957, the inaugural exhibition was held at Taipei Zhongshan Hall. From 1957 to 1970, the "Annual Fifth Moon group Exhibition" was shown at City Hall, Taipei. Noted anniversary exhibits for the 25th (1981), 35th (1991) and 40th (1997) years were on display in Taipei with the .