臺北市政府文化局

Born in 1895 in Wanhua, Huang Tu-shui attended National Language School, where he made a lasting impression on his school principal with his graduation exhibition carving. With the principal’s support, in 1915 Huang gained admission to the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, even securing a scholarship, which freed him from financial worries. Huang was not only the first Taiwanese student at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts but also the first Taiwanese artist ever to study fine arts in Japan.

In 1920, Huang’s sculpture The Chubby Playing Boy, which featured strong Taiwanese characteristics, made him the first Taiwanese artist to be selected for the Imperial Art Exhibition. In 1930, he began working on Water Buffalo, a large-scale sculpture inspired by his long-term observation of Taiwanese water buffalo, with the intention of submitting it to another Imperial Art Exhibition. However, exhausted from years of hard work, Huang died from peritonitis before completing the piece. In 1937, Huang’s widow, Liao Chiu-kuei, donated the sculpture to Taipei City Hall, where it was mounted on the central wall between the second and third floors of Taipei Public Auditorium (now Zhongshan Hall).

Water Buffalo depicts a serene rural Taiwanese scene: three herders and five water buffalo are under a banana tree, grazing, resting, and walking about. One herder sits atop a buffalo and holds a bamboo hat, while another stands beside a buffalo, gently stroking it. Originally crafted in plaster, the sculpture began to deteriorate over time. In 1983, the Council for Cultural Affairs (now the Ministry of Culture) cast bronze replicas for exhibition at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Afterwards, the replicas were donated to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, while the fiberglass mold was preserved by the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts.

Today, this iconic piece of modern Taiwanese art can be admired in northern, central, and southern Taiwan. Visitors to Zhongshan Hall should be sure to climb to the second floor to view the final work of Taiwan’s first artist to be selected for the Imperial Art Exhibition. Take a moment to appreciate its tropical atmosphere and rich Taiwanese imagery.