[Interesting] Shocking! ! Young painter sells paintings but gets murdered! The first art sale dispute in Taiwan! ?

A few days ago, Yoshitomo Nara's "Greenhouse Girl" sold for HK$103 million, equivalent to NT$376 million, at an auction co-organized by Phillips and Poly Auction, the second highest in the artist's career. Expensive artwork. However, what if the buyer chooses not to pay after the auction? Subject to the contract signed before the auction, if the buyer does not pay, in addition to losing the deposit, it will also suffer a criminal lawsuit.

Today, due to the booming of the auction market, art exhibitions, and gallery industries, art transactions involve complex and diverse levels. Therefore, disputes are often not just a problem between A and B, and intermediaries and even delivery personnel cannot stay out of it. So, when did the first "modern" art disputes in Taiwan occur? In the absence of clear documentation and historical data, this may be a difficult answer. However, as early as 1930 in Taiwan, there was an art dispute with a "modern" significance.

the origin of the event

Back in October 1929, the 3rd Taiwan Art Exhibition organized by the Taiwan Education Association was held at Huashan Elementary School (next to the Shandao Temple Station of the MRT). At this time, Lin Dongling (1905-2004), a young painter from Chiayi, was selected for the first time under fierce competition. In his early years, Lin Dongling met Lin Yushan (1907-2004), one of the " Three Teenagers of the Taizhan Exhibition ", and studied with Pan Chunyuan (1891-1972), a painter from Tainan, who was also a later famous painter Pan Lishui. (1914-1995) father. After years of hard work in painting, Lin Dongling was finally selected for the Taiwan Exhibition with "Cow" in 1929.

The annual Taiwan exhibition attracts a large number of visitors every year. For example, Lin Dongling was selected for the third Taiwan exhibition, and more than 15,000 people came to visit. As the Taiwan Exhibition has become a stage for painters to gain fame and attract buyers, painters will also mark prices on the exhibition catalogue for reference. If a painting is purchased, it will be tagged under it, a practice that is already similar to the format of a modern art fair. In other words, perhaps for young painters like Lin Dongling, they are gradually experiencing the so-called "modernity" through "ceremonies" such as exhibitions and exhibition sales.

From the catalogue materials at that time, we can see that the prices set by a group of painters are ranging from 100 to 700 yuan, compared with the prices set by painters such as Lin Yushan, Guo Xuehu, and Chen Jin who have long achieved fame. Pan Chunyuan's "Ox Cart" is priced at 100 yuan, while Lin Dongling's "Ox" is only priced at 50 yuan. This price is indeed not high, it can even be said to be the lowest price of the exhibition department, but it is still equal to a few months' salary of a public school teacher.

At that time, a buyer expressed their willingness to buy Lin Dongling's paintings at the venue. For Lin Dongling, who was born in the countryside of Zhongpu, Chiayi and was just a fledgling, the money he got from it was second, and more importantly, perhaps the buyer's appreciation for him. Be sure and appreciate it.

course of events

The buyer who was scheduled to buy Lin Dongling's work was Li Jifu from Qianmen, Yilan, who, oddly, did not trade during the exhibition. After the Taiwan Exhibition was closed, Lin Dongling had no choice but to take back the paintings. Although there seemed to be other buyers interested in buying at this time, the young and socially inexperienced painter, afraid of losing his trust in Li Jifu, entrusted the "Nanguo Company" from Chiayi in December to package the paintings and deliver them to buyers in Yilan.

However, the problem came. The Nanguo Company claimed that the painting had been delivered to the consignee, but Li Jifu failed to deliver the payment. Lin Dongling sent letters to inquire many times, but there was no news. Therefore, Lin Dongling decided to go to court.

At the end of October 1930, during the 4th Taiwan Exhibition, the Chinese version of "Taiwan Daily News" focused on the case. The reason why Taiwan Daily is concerned about the sale and purchase dispute of this young rural painter. The reason for the death may be related to Lai Ziqing (1894-1988), a newspaper reporter from Chiayi. Lai Ziqing met painting friends such as Lin Yushan, and perhaps there was also the help of Lin Yushan and others.

The headline of that day's newspaper, "The buyer of the selected painting at the Taiwan Exhibition, asks Jinjing to be silently murdered until now, will go to the court after a year of anger ." The content mentioned that " I will read it for a year since the delivery of Yilan on December 7 last year. The writer's hard work has paid off. Although the buyer understands Fengya, he has no virtue. Lin can't bear to be fooled. Decided to resort to the court ", using tough words to reinforce the negative image of buyers. It shows that the artist intends to use the power of the media to create public opinion.

However, although the newspaper mentioned that Lin Dongling " will resort to the court in great anger ", but the whereabouts of the case were not found by reviewing the existing court proceedings. At the same time , there was another lawsuit in which Li Jifu owed other people's property . Did this cause the buyer to be unable to pay the cost of Lin Dongling's works? Since the whereabouts of this painting are still unknown, we have no way of knowing the follow-up to the dispute. However, the newspaper also finally appealed to the painters who participated in the Taiwan exhibition. If there is a sale contract during the exhibition in the future, it is recommended to ask for a deposit first to avoid heavy losses.

Remainder

For us today, what information can we learn from this possibly the first art dispute in Taiwan's modern art history? First of all, when art becomes a commodity that can be circulated in the market, disputes will arise, which may include disputes over contract signing, price, damage, authenticity and so on. However, the dispute that Lin Dongling experienced this time was based on the modern art exhibition as the stage for trading, because the organizer was only responsible for the exhibition, not responsible for the transaction. As a result, young painters like Lin Dongling who are just "on the Dragon Gate" may suffer a big loss because they are eager to sell their paintings to gain income and fame, and credulously trust the other party's promises. However, the painter still tried to use the newspaper media to arouse public opinion, hoping to force the other party to come forward.

The whole incident is indeed an art dispute case of modern significance because it involves the mechanism of trade fairs, shipping companies, courts, newspapers and media. However, no relevant records of this incident can be found in the court files that have been preserved so far. In addition to the possibility of the archives being dissipated, is it possible that the buyer finally reconciled with the painter privately under the pressure of public opinion? And where does this "Cow" end up? Many suspense still await further investigation. But in any case, although the fledgling painter encountered an accident, he did not stop. He was selected for the Taiwan Exhibition again in 1930 and bravely embarked on his own path of modern art.

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