Works by refined artists with international reputations dominated the market, while the younger generation was after contemporary abstracts and scorned the realistic style of the older Taiwanese painters.
當時市場上，風雅之士以擁有國畫名家的畫作為傲；年輕一代雖然也學西畫，卻一心嚮往新潮的現代藝術及抽象主義，對於台灣前輩西洋美術畫家們以寫實為主的畫風「嗤之以鼻」。