Ran In-ting

• Name — Ran In-ting • Native Name — 藍蔭鼎 • Born — 1903 • Birthplace — Taihoku, Taiwan, Empire of Japan • Died — 1979 • Occupation — Artist Ran In-ting (1903–1979), also known as Lan Yinding, was a Taiwanese watercolour artist whose work is recognised around the world for its expressive rendition of Taiwan's landscape. He was able to capture the essence of his subjects with fluidity and sensibility, whether he was using watercolours or ink as his medium.

Ran was born in Ratō, Giran-chō, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Luodong, Yilan County) in north-eastern Taiwan in 1903. He is said to have painted his first picture at the age of 13, a mural on a temple wall in his home village of a dragon wreathed by cloud. His father, a xiucai scholar of Qing China, is said to have taught Ran Chinese ink painting as a child. He was able to study art at secondary school, and became an art teacher at Ratō Public School at the age of 17.

Ran successfully exhibited at the Imperial Fine Arts Academy exhibitions in Japan, the Teiten, in 1926 and 1929, and also in 1929, probably owing to Ishikawa's influence with the colonial administration, was appointed as Art teacher at Taihoku First Girls High School and Taihoku Second Girls High School. These were important appointments – these schools were generally reserved for privileged Japanese students in Taiwan, and had very few Taiwanese faculty members, let alone someone from a rural area who had only a secondary school education. In the same year, 1929, Ran successfully exhibited in the Japanese Teiten exhibition, with his watercolour On the Street. He also exhibited in Taiwan and was active in furthering watercolour painting in Taiwan, being a founding member of the Taiwan Painting Research Institute for the study of Western painting, established in 1929. Ishikawa taught many students in Taiwan the art of Western style watercolour painting and he mentored and encouraged many Taiwanese students to travel to Japan for further training. Ran, however, stayed in Taiwan and continued to paint in watercolours and also in ink.