十九世紀末西方藝術界正興起「原始藝術」的浪潮，代表藝術家首推遠離塵囂，隱居大溪地，描繪原住民的畫家高更，其後有畢卡索、馬蒂斯以非洲藝術為靈感淵源，進行藝術創作，這波浪潮傳至東方，影響了經歷明治維新且正陶醉在全盤西化中的日本。 　　一八九五年日本統治台灣後，這片殖民地上的異文化正好引起日本政府與學者莫大的興趣，為因應統治者的需求，日本政府派遣學者到台灣調查、研究與紀錄台灣原住民的面貌，配合著台灣總督府恩威並施地進行全島的「蕃族慣習調查」，留下了大量的風俗記載。 　　而繪畫方面因為日人鼓勵「在地風格」，使新式美術亦出現原住民圖像，成為一種潮流，本文係以日據時期台灣美術中原住民圖像為探討對象，進而瞭解當時繪畫風格流行之原因，藉以建立美術史之資源，以便研究者參考。

　　Towards the end of the 19th Century, the West was swept up in a craze for "Primitive Art". Gauguin was the most well known artist, finding refuge from civilization in far away Tahiti where he painted the local natives. Picasso and Matisse followed in his footsteps, drawing inspiration from the art of Africa in their work. The fashion for "Primitive Art" spread East, and became a strong influence on Japan as it underwent rapid Westernization during the Meiji Restoration. 　　With Japan taking control of Taiwan in 1895, the exotic native culture that existed in this new colony attracted great interest from the Japanese government and scholars. In response to the needs of the colonial administration, the Japanese government dispatched scholars to investigate, research and record the nature of the Taiwanese Aborigine people. As the Governor General of Taiwan conducted his "Carrot and Stick" approach to pacifying Taiwan's inhabitants, the scholars conducted an "Investigation of Indigene Tribal Traditions" at the same time, leaving behind large amounts of ethnographic records. 　　In art, the Japanese encouraged a "Local Style", so depictions of Aborigines began to appear in contemporary art as part of the prevailing fashion. This Humanities faculty will explore the depiction of Aborigines in the Taiwanese art of the Japanese Colonial Period, and seek to understand the causes of its popularity in the contemporary art of that period. From this a body of reference can be built up for use by researchers of art history.