To draw attention to the beauty of modern ink-wash painting in the R.O.C., Chunghwa Post is releasing a set of four stamps featuring Republican-era ink-wash paintings from the collection of the National Palace Museum. Their designs follow:1. Xu Beihong’s “Magpie” (NT$5): Xu Beihong, a native of Jiangsu. The magpie in this painting looks backward in a natural pose. The pliant willow branch, which is rendered with varying concentrations of ink, is juxtaposed with the more sharply contrasted black and white of the magpie. Despite the simplicity of the composition, the shading and simply outlined shapes are perfectly balanced throughout. The nimble and spirited harmony of this work conveys a tremendous sense of vitality.2. Gao Qifeng’s “Macaque” (NT$12): A native of Guangdong. In this work, a macaque portrayed in ink-wash and colors is shown seated on the slanting trunk of a pine tree. The subtle shading and depth of color achieves a vivid effect. 3. Huang Chun-pi’s “A Secluded Scene of Remote Mountains” (NT$15): Huang (whose original name was Yunzhi, whose alternate name was Yunxuan, and whose sobriquet was Chun-pi) was a native of Guangdong. In this painting, the method he employed to render the clouds and mists involved leaving the area of the foothills blank and highlighting them with surrounding washes of light ink, creating a sense of light clouds pervading the serene mountain valley. Bringing to life a bright day deep in autumn, the layers of ink-wash throughout the work are rich and varied.4. Qi Baishi’s “Pumpkin Vines of Abundant Growth” (NT$25): Qi Baishi (whose original name was Huang, whose style name was Pingsheng, and whose sobriquet was Baishi) was a native of Hunan. This painting mixes techniques, combining outlines filled with colors and “boneless” washes to depict long and entangled vines of hanging pumpkins. The application of ink is exceptionally fluid, much like the gyrations of “wild cursive” script calligraphy. To continue the enthusiasm of collecting stamps and to add to philatelic interest, Chunghwa Post is also releasing one copy of stamp folio and another in limited edition. Each item includes a set of 4 stamps and a set of 4 pre-canceled maximum cards. They are elegantly designed and worth collecting.