Tsai Hsia-ling Biography
Tsai Hsia-Ling was born in Suzhou, China, in 1935. Since childhood he has cultivated a great passion for fine arts and calligraphy. In 1949, he left China and moved to Taiwan, where he studied fine arts and mathematics at National Taipei Normal University. In the 1950s, Tsai Hsia-Ling associated with Taiwan's intellectual and artistic elite, taking inspiration from great masters such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, and Lee Chun-Shan. He was part of a circle of artists who experimented with painting and modernism, meeting Hsiao Chin, Ho Kan and Li Yuan-Chia in this period. Tsai Hsia-Ling joined the avant-garde art movement Ton-Fan in 1956, founded in Taipei by Ho-Kan. This group played a vital role in the development of Taiwanese art and the history of 20th-century Chinese art. From 1959 onwards, Tsai Hsia-Ling began to hold solo exhibitions, notably in Florence in the Numero Gallery. During this period, inspired by the I Ching philosophy, he undertook multidisciplinary research in painting, sculpture, architecture, philosophy, mathematics, music, dance and natural sciences. Initially, his work was inspired by his deep affinity with Chinese culture, philosophy, calligraphy and ink, and the influence of the contemporary Western art movement. The use of the ink technique naturally led him to adopt the movements of action painting, in which he allowed his body to interact freely with the canvas. Together with Hsiao Chin, he was the first Chinese artist to also be active in Italy and Europe.
