Ho Chao-chu was born on February 22, 1931 in Wulong Village, East District, Hsinchu City, Taiwan. His mother ran a tea farm in a mountain Hakka village. His father, a noted local Buddhist painter, wrote calligraphic letters and cut seals for clients to earn extra income for the family. It is because of his versatile father’s influence that the young boy aspired to take up a career of ink and paint. Ho enrolled at the Hsinchu Prefecture Exemplar Elementary School, where he mastered the Japanese language. In 1949, the artist graduated from the National Chutung Senior High School. In 1952, he grated again from the Fine Arts Department, Provincial Taipei Normal College, and was hired as an art teacher of the college’s affiliated elementary school, where he would teach for the next 30 years. Ho and his siblings, as well as literati Li Hsien-wen and Li Yi-wen, also launched Lion Art magazine. A few years later, the artist’s younger brother Ho Cheng-kwang founded Artist magazine on his own. The two magazines became canonical publications in Taiwan. Ho retired from the Affiliated Experimental Elementary School of National Taipei University of Education in 1979 and became a fulltime painter. He also wrote articles for the two magazines. The artist won the third prize respectively at “Tai-yang Art Exhibition” and “Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibition” in 1958. In the years to come, he would win many other awards. He was among the top three award winners for eight times at the “Taiwan Provincial Fine Arts Exhibitions.” He also bagged the Golden Nobility Award in oil painting from the Republic of China Painting Association in 1971; National Honorary Award from the sixth “International Exposition of Cannes, France” in 1974; International Award from the “Asian Modern Art Exhibition” in Tokyo, 1982; and Sun Yat-Sen Cultural Foundation Oil Painting Creation Award in 1984. Ho has held solo exhibitions for several dozen times. He has worked on various posts, including the executive member of the Creative Oil Painting Society of R.O.C, member of Tai-yang Art Society, member of Chinese Painting Society, and member of the Arts Association of the Republic of China.

Sails and masts are many in this picture. Sailboats rest beside the wharf, with their masts crisscrossing one another. Such creates an interesting composition in which the masts deliver a sense of stability, solidness and volume. The interlacing colors of light blue and purple, moreover, create a light-hearted aura in the picture. The tilted brushstrokes, a discreet structure/texture, and geometric architectural composition in this painting reflect the author’s dedicated personality. This painting is a wonderful feast for the eyes.

At age 56, Ho started to travel overseas extensively. He aspires after the techniques of world-renowned Bernard Buffet and Pablo Picasso. He especially admires master artist Henri Matisse for his boldness and expressiveness in art. He looked into these painters’ creative process and ideas and learned to embrace the world with an open mind. No matter where their master paintings are, he would visit those places to appreciate the artworks. There are four stages in Ho’s creative career: (1) 1953-1961: landscape and still life painting (figural). (2) From 1960 on: cubist painting as influenced by the west (quasi-abstract). (3) From 1970 on: a combination of color masses and lines (abstract). (4) From 1980 on: return to realism and a mature painting style.