Jiang Jhao-shen was born in Xi County, Anhui Province, China in 1925 and died in 1996, with a courtesy name of Chiao-yuan. Born into a scholar family, the young boy’s seal was so wonderfully made that famous seal-cutting artist Teng San-mu expressed appreciation of it. In 1949, Jiang came to Taiwan by sea and started teaching at the National Keelung Senior High School. He became a student of renowned painter Pu Hsin-yu and learned poetry and prose with him in the next year. With time, Jiang mastered poetry, prose, calligraphy, painting and seal-cutting art. He had the first calligraphy, painting and seal-cutting exhibition at the Taipei Zhongshan Hall in 1965, and received praises from many communities in Taiwan. For this, he was invited to hold a post at National Palace Museum. Blessed with his service at the NPM, Jiang was able to study the calligraphy and paintings of famous Chinese artists of different periods of time and integrate their artistic concepts with his own. It is with dedicated study and practice of art that Jiang became a great artist.Jiang served National Palace Museum for 27 years. Upon retirement in September 1991, Jiang moved to Liyu Lake in Puli, Nantou County, where he created many high quality artworks. May 12, 1996, while Jiang was giving a speech at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, northeastern China, he was hit by a myocardial infarction and passed away.

Jiang learned poetry and prose with master painter Pu Hsin-yu in the early years of his career. The brushstrokes, composition and use of colors in Jiang’s paintings are different from Pu’s, nor do they share the same calligraphy writing style. However, one can see that Jiang had inherited Pu’s fine artistic temperament in his works. This reflects Pu’s life belief of “Integrity comes first, studies the second, and calligraphy and painting for fun.” Jiang was good at using long drawing lines to show the contours of slanting mountains and a sense of daringness in his works. This is different from Pu Hsin-yu’s short wrinkling brushstrokes inherited from Shen Chou. The overall briskness of the picture and the solid details of mountains, which derive from Pu Hsin-yu and Shen Chou, create an intriguing contrast. “Chi Yun,” a.k.a. artistic temperament in ink and wash painting, is manifested in Jiang’s paintings.

Jiang was dedicated to studying the history of traditional Chinese painting. He was also a great connoisseur. Throughout his life, Jiang mastered the art of poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal-cutting. He was both a learned scholar and a great painter. Jiang was praised by contemporary critics as “a new example of traditional Chinese literati” and “an extraordinary talent in the history of Chinese modern art.” He was well equipped with the knowledge of traditional inscriptions, poetry, calligraphy and painting, especially landscape painting. His brushstrokes are solid and ethereal at the same time, and his painting look more distinctive than others. Based on traditional painting skills, he created a daring, free-spirited modern style, which made him an extraordinary figure in modern Chinese landscape painting. He excelled in all calligraphy scripts, such as running, regular, seal and clerical scripts. His writings are graceful and full of vitality, which are truly unique. In 1965, Jiang was introduced to hold a post at the Calligraphy and Painting Department of the National Palace Museum. During his office term, Jiang delved into the history of art, especially the Tang Yen and Wu paintings of the Ming Dynasty. Anthocyanin and ochre colors in his paintings can be appreciated independently, even at a far distance. He also reshaped elements in traditional Chinese painting. New insights and a unique personal style can be seen through the fine mixture of blanks, ink, wash and colors. With everything combined, the artist was able to develop a very different temperament.