Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy by David Hockney, 1968, acrylic on canvas. © David Hockney. Photo credit: Jonathan Wilkinson
Featuring 66 works by iconic artists including Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Gustav Klimt, Gerhard Richter, and Mark Rothko, The Scorpion and the Frog exhibition at Taichung Art Museum in Taichung City, Taiwan, brings together an impressive range of styles, periods, and media. The exhibition marks the most comprehensive presentation of the YAGEO Foundation Collection in Taiwan to date, offering a rare opportunity to experience many of its highlights in one place.
The exhibition takes its name from a Russian fable about a scorpion and a frog trying to cross a river together. The story has become a metaphor for the tension between reason and instinct, which became a theme for the display. Curated by New York-based writer and curator Philip Larratt-Smith, the exhibition centers on the mind vs. body, where two sides of the human experience conflict. The works are displayed in unexpected pairings that bring artists from different times and places into dialogue.
The works touch on everything from spirituality, abstraction, and intellectual thought to psychology, desire, and the physical world. By placing artworks from different eras and artistic traditions side by side, it encourages visitors to discover new connections and see familiar works from a fresh perspective. It also reveals how art can express human experiences and emotions we all share—no matter where or when we lived.
One pairing includes Italian painter Jacopo Tintoretto’s dignified portrait of Cardinal Marcantonio Amulio (a Venetian ambassador and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who lived in the 1500s) with Francis Bacon’s distorted, unsettling depiction of Pope VI. Together, the artworks create a striking contrast between outward power and inner angst. Another highlight includes Hockney’s double portrait of writer Christopher Isherwood and his partner Don Bachardy, which captures both their individuality and their close relationship.
Visit The Scorpion and the Frog exhibition at Taichung Art Museum in Taiwan from November 20, 2026, until April 4, 2027.
The Scorpion and the Frog exhibition at Taichung Art Museum in Taiwan brings together 66 master artworks across a range of styles, periods, and media.
Portrait of Cardinal Marcantonio da Mula by Jacopo Tintoretto, circa 1562-63, oil on canvas
The exhibition marks the most comprehensive presentation of the YAGEO Foundation Collection in Taiwan to date.
Study for a Pope VI by Francis Bacon, 1961, oil on canvas
Exterior of Taichung Green Museumbrary, designed by SANAA Architects. Image courtesy of Taichung Art Museum. © Iwan Baan
