Li Shih-chiao was born in Hsinchuang Borough, Taipei State in 1908. Lee entered Taipei Normal School in 1923 and received instructions from Ishikawa Kinichiro. In 1927, Li’s artwork Taipei Bridge was selected by the first “Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition.” On January 3rd 1929, Li arrived in Tokyo and enrolled in Kawabata Art School and Hongo Western Painting Studies Classroom. He studied at both Yoshimura Yoshimatsu’s painting cram school and the Doshusha (Shipmate Association). From 1929 on till 1934, Li’s oil paintings such as Under the Tree Shade, The Portrait of My Brother, Still Life on the Table, Lin Ben-yun Garden, and In the Painting Room were selected by “Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibitions” and “Imperial Art Exhibitions.” In 1934, Li became one of the cofounders established Tai-yang Art Society. In 1943, the then 35 year-old Li Shih-chiao’s artwork had been selected seven times by the Japan “Imperial Art Exhibitions” and “Ministry of Education Art Exhibition” and therefore won him an honor of “direct enter (no inspection)” qualification to present his art in “Ministry of Education Art Exhibition.” Li was the first Taiwanese painter to be granted with this honor. In 1946, he presented his work The Market Entrance to the first “Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition” and served as the jury. In 1995, at the age of 87, Li passed away of an illness at Syracuse, New York. Li received the Commendatory Award from President of Taiwan Li Deng-hui that same year.

Pearl Necklace won the 10th Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition Award in 1936. The portrait of the lady under Li’s strokes is usually presented as fashionable, dignified and lofty. The lady in the painting is very likely to be his wife Chou Lai-fu, who might be the same model in Li’s 1935 work, The Chamber, which won him the Recommended Painter’s Work in the 9th “Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition.” The style of the work is similar to that of realism illustration of the other portraits presented in the “Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibitions” such as The Figure (the 6th), The Damsel (the 8th) in the 1930s. In the painting the model stays in the center with a dignified expression on her face—her mouth shut, her fists clenched together with a dark shadow behind the heroine. In the 1930s and the 1940s, Li’s painting style was mainly based on artistic realism. From 1950s on, Li was under the influence of Cubism and intended to create his artwork with techniques such as graphics, opacity, and contrasts. After moving to the United States in the 1970s, Li took back his realism in art and adapted portraits and landscapes as his themes with the realistic figures and bright colors. Li Shih-chiao’s portraits are usually presented in a stable triangular composition. The illustration have brought the portraits to life, with the mild color hues and the background to set off the theme, Li’s works present local colors especially in his portraits of Taiwanese figures and themes related to local lifestyle.

Li Shih-chiao is the first generation Taiwanese western art painter. Li Shih-chiao entered the he most authoritative official exhibition, “Imperial Art Exhibitoin,” with his Lin Ben-yun Garden and became one of the Taiwanese painters who were granted with this rare honor. After his watercolor painting Taipei Bridge was selected by the first “Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition,” Li participated successively in the exhibition every year and won the greatest honor—the Special Selection in the 5th, 7th, and 8th “Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition” among other awards such as “Taiwan-Japan Prize,” Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition Award and Asahi Award. In 1945, Li earned himself a qualification to present his artwork without drafting in “Imperial Art Exhibitoin.” Li revealed his talent during his overseas studies in Tokyo since the time of the Japanese occupation. He insisted on his personal artistic faith, made effort on the innovation of style, and focused on his researches of the cubist and impressionist styles of paintings. Li made his return to the sketches of landscapes in his late years. Throughout his life, Li never stop reinventing himself in his artistic creativity. With a will to always surpass himself, Li is a respectable and admirable figure among the excellent forerunning Taiwanese artist.