Lu Tien-yen, one of the Taipei School painters who stress their social consciousness, has painted only one self-portrait in over two decades. He painted that when he had just finished his military service. It hadn't been many years since the ROC had left the United Nations. In those troubled times teachers prohibited their art students from painting on certain themes or even with certain colors.
而強調與社會結合的「台北畫派」現代畫家盧天炎，二十多年來只畫過一張自畫像，那年他剛退伍回來，國家才退出聯合國沒幾年，除了對時局的困惑，在創作上，繪畫的色調、主題相當受限。