The fine arts world at that time uncovered two homegrown artists, Hung Tung and Ju Ming, and the painting world was swept by a nostalgic "native realism" emphasizing things and people from local Taiwanese culture and society, and especially from the countryside. Representative artists included Hsieh Ming-chang, Ong Ching-tu, Chen Tung-yuan, and others like Hsi Teh-chin and Hsu Kun-cheng who had awakened to this style even earlier than the others.
美術圈在當時挖掘出洪通和朱銘兩位素人畫家；而畫壇則興起一股對鄉土人物、景緻捕捉的懷想的「鄉土寫實」，像是謝明錩，翁清土、陳東元；還有覺醒得更早的席德進、許坤成等。