There he withstood the new wave of art in the late 1950s, when past glory made him and other first-generation artists targets for rejection by the younger generation of artists. In particular, Yang, as a leader of Sun Arts, came to be viewed as an out-of-date, dictatorial figure by the new generation of artists.
而不論是楊三郎或是其他第一代老畫家，面對五十年代末期美術新思潮的衝擊，過去的榮耀，都成為新一代質疑的對象，尤其是肩負台陽美術協會重任的楊三郎，在新生代畫家眼中，成了觀念落伍、運作獨斷的象徵。