日治時期臺灣美術的地方色彩，描繪臺灣特有的天候、地理、自然、人情與風俗等地方特徵，然而臺灣鄉土藝術（地方色彩）意味的不僅是在於題材的選擇，也是文化特徵的組合，除努力製作臺灣題材之外，小澤秋成、石川欽一郎等西洋畫家在油畫、水彩作品中，運用屬於南畫手法的筆墨線條、構圖留白、簡筆筆觸等，創出具有東洋藝術意味的台灣風景。另一方，林玉山、結城素明等東洋畫家，雖然使用傳統媒材，但西畫式的技巧如塗抹、鳥瞰構圖等，作品被當時的評論家評論為失去東洋藝術價值。

本文主張被殖民處境下的臺灣文化認同，屬於大東亞文化認同的脈絡，具有兩個相互重疊的層面，一是建基於亞洲國家同質性的亞洲共同體，大東亞文化認同連結亞洲不同地區，並且建立彼此之間命運共存共屬的歸屬感。南畫（水墨畫）是亞洲地區的共同文化傳統，南畫筆墨線條、留白、氣韻生動等特徵，成為東洋藝術精神的體現。不論是使用東（傳統）、西洋（現代）媒材，創出具有東洋藝術精神的作品，是日治臺灣美術的主要方向。另一層面，臺灣在大東亞文化認同中的脈絡的定位，其獨特性是建立在與亞洲其他地區的差異處之上，反映在題材上，與北國日本的對照，日本優雅、臺灣粗曠，南國風情的芭蕉、水牛、相思樹成為台灣特色，彼此特色倚賴在與對方的差異性上。大東亞文化框架下台灣文化認同，不但需尋求亞洲地區之間的同質性，也需尋求異質性，兩個層面各自獨立但又互相重疊，構成臺灣文化認同的複合、多元性的複雜結構。

本文由日治《臺灣日日新報》上對臺展的評論與主張，探討日治南畫風格發展的不同層面，透過文本、公共論述與歷史文獻的鋪陳，輔以具體作品的分析，理解地方色彩、新南畫在大東亞框架下臺灣文化認同的意涵、建構與發展，勾勒出日治時期臺灣美術中追尋文化主體性的過程與面貌。

“Local color” in art during Taiwan's Japanese colonial period refers to the depiction of distinctively Taiwanese features—scenes, climate, natural features, customs, and so on. However, local color was not only a matter of choice of subject-matter but also a construct of cultural characteristics. Western-style painters such as Ozawa Akinari (1886-1954) and Ishikawa Kin'ichirō (1871-1945) incorporated techniques of traditional ink paintings (which they referred to as nanga or “southern painting”) in their oils and watercolors to create Taiwanese landscapes with an East Asian flavor. Meanwhile, Eastern-style painters such as Lin Yushan (1907–2004) and Somei Yūki continued to use traditional materials but borrowed Western techniques such as impasto and bird's-eye perspective, but they were criticized as lacking the essence of Eastern painting, as their finished works looked more like Western paintings.

This study argues that Taiwan's cultural identity as a Japanese colony had two overlapping contexts within the broader context of East Asian cultural identity. The first was based on the establishment of this greater East Asian cultural identity, made possible by the commonalities among Asian countries and linked with a shared sense of belonging among different regions in Asia. Nanga or ink painting, with its emphasis on line, its use of void spaces, and so on, was the common cultural heritage of the region; it became representative of the spirit of Eastern art. The second context was based on presenting Taiwan as distinctive from its Asian neighbors. This was reflected in the selection of the materials used: in comparison with elegant Japan, Taiwan was coarse. Artists selected “southern” Taiwanese subject-matter that contrasted with that of “northern” Japan (banana trees, water buffaloes, acacia trees, etc.). Taiwanese cultural identity under the broader East Asian cultural framework had to search for aspects of homogeneity with other Asian regions but also aspects of heterogeneity—the two layers were independent, yet overlapping. In this way, Taiwan's pluralistic, diverse, and complex cultural identity was formed.

Drawing upon critiques and articles on the Taiwan Fine Arts Exhibition (Taiten) in the Taiwan Nichinichi shimpō and other texts and historical documents, besides the artworks themselves, this study intends to explore various aspects of Taiwan's developing cultural identity during the Japanese colonial period, including the meaning of local color and new nanga. In so doing, the search for cultural subjectivity in Taiwanese art during this period is delineated.