This painting belongs to Shiy De-jinn’s “Northern Seafront” series, which were created on the north coast of Taiwan. Its composition is similar to the works collected by National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. With his skillful technique in watercolor and delicate changes of ink, the artist leaves strokes of “flying white” on the canvas. Taiwan is an island with beautiful sea landscape around every corner: the reefs stretching from Taipei to Yilan are particularly magnificent. Chiang Hsun complimented Shiy in that “he introduced the Chinese landscape into Taiwanese paintings.” In addition to his sketches in the mountains and on the fields of Taiwan, Shiy’s seafront landscapes of his later years are also considered masterpieces.

Shiy was an emotional artist that had an intense fascination with the sea, as he expressed: “I have an unstoppable yearning for the sea. Even if it is a harbor, with the air of the sea, I will also be allured… The waves and rocks along Taipei-Yilan Coastal Highway are captivating and compelling.” In the simple, rustic ink of “Northern Seafront”, the artist once again emphasizes the presence of beauty, creating a landscape imagery in which ink and wash harmoniously blend together in an articulate artistic vocabulary. The towering rocks complement the bold ink and seem to be inspired from Li Keran.