Artists in the relatively backwards Japanese colony were limited, to painters from the mainland sheltered by wealthy patrons, conscripted temple artists, and some "untouchable" Japanese.
讓畫家整年都有事可忙早期台灣僅有的美術活動，就是少數的展覽與畫會。除了始自一九二七年的官辦「台展」外，民間畫會的主流，有一九二四∼二六年的「七星畫壇」，與一九二七∼三三年的「赤島社」。