意蘊藝術啟蒙的光
黃土水與〈甘露水〉的劃時代宣言
「風聞有?，親眼見?」，這段來自《聖經•約伯記》裡的話，或許也是許多人初見〈甘露水〉的絕佳寫照。2021年底，由台灣雕塑家黃土水所創作的〈甘露水〉，這件台灣藝術史上首件女性裸體大理石雕，歷經約半世紀的封存與半年的修復，終於重新面世，引起的轟動不僅限於藝術圈，更吸引了大批民眾前往一睹風采。
A Love Letter to Taiwan
Huang Tu-shui’s Water of Immortality
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.” These words from the biblical Book of Job perhaps aptly describe how people feel upon seeing Huang Tu-shui’s Water of Immortality, the first marble sculpture of a female nude in the history of Taiwanese art.
從蒙塵封存到浴光重生
從揚名一時到銷聲匿跡，〈甘露水〉成了美術史上的一則傳聞，但「只要是研究台灣美術史的學者，都曉得有這件作品。」台灣美術教育學者、國家文化藝術基金會董事長林曼麗說。這些年來，她與許多學者戮力尋找、修補、典藏許多台灣早年藝術品，這些作品往往向〈甘露水〉一般，散落於民間，「擁有者會老，作品沒有適當的保存，也會逐漸劣化，這些年來，我們就像是在跟時間賽跑。」談及此，本身是台北教育大學藝術與造型設計學系名譽教授的林曼麗的語氣顯得有些焦急。
除了保存工作，發揚藝術品的價值，與民眾共饗也是重要的任務。林曼麗身兼校內美術館「北師美術館」館長一職，兩年前便在此策畫展覽「不朽的青春──台灣美術再發現」，當時展出黃土水至今碩果僅存的作品〈少女胸像〉，引起廣大迴響。
她乘勝追擊，呼應「台灣文化協會」成立百年，策畫「光──台灣文化的啟蒙與自覺」，啟動初期，「在我的心裡，就已經為這件作品留下了一個位置。」林曼麗說。
「自助然後天助吧。」她說。透過各方的層層牽線，就連蔡英文總統也出了一份力，她終於見到張鴻標的兒子張士文。在過去，便有不少人曾聽聞作品在張家手上，希望開價收購，卻一概受到張家拒絕。但在雙方會晤的當下，彷彿因緣匯聚、水到渠成，張士文一見到林曼麗，二話不說：「妳來把它帶走吧。」
是以，2021年5月6日下午4點半，台中霧峰的某家工廠中，在張氏家族廿餘人、林曼麗與日籍修復師森純一等人團團環繞之下，躺臥在木箱中，為麻布、塑膠布層層包裹的〈甘露水〉，歷經47年的沉睡，重新被喚醒。
Rediscovery
Having seemingly vanished into thin air, the once-celebrated Water of Immortality became a legend in art history. “Anyone who has studied the history of art in Taiwan will have heard of this work,” says Lin Mun-lee, a researcher who specializes in Taiwan’s art education and who currently chairs the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF).
Lin, who is also a professor emerita of arts and design at National Taipei University of Education, as well as director of MoNTUE, organized an exhibition entitled The Everlasting Bloom: Rediscovering Taiwanese Modern Art at the museum two years ago. Among the artworks on display was Huang Tu-shui’s unique Bust of a Girl, which was warmly received by the public.
Encouraged by this success, Lin made plans for Lumière: The Enlightenment and Self-Awakening of Taiwanese Culture, an exhibition intended to celebrate the centenary of the Taiwan Cultural Association.
“Heaven helps those who help themselves,” Lin says. Helpers, including President Tsai Ing-wen, came from all quarters to build bridges for her. Eventually she met Chang Shi-wen, a son of Chang Hong-biao. Many people before Lin had heard that Huang’s sculpture was in the care of the Chang family, but all offers to buy it had been rebuffed. During their meeting, however, Chang felt that the time was ripe, and without a second thought he invited Lin to come and take the sculpture away.
And so it was that at 4.30 p.m. on May 6, 2021, inside a factory in Wufeng, encircled by some 20 members of the Chang family, along with Lin Mun-lee and Japanese conservator Junichi Mori, Water of Immortality—which had languished in a wooden crate for 47 years, wrapped in linen and plastic fabric—at last saw the light of day again.
