Description/
The fountain and roundabout at downtown Chiayi is an important landmark in the city and the theme of a series of works by Chen Cheng-po. He stationed himself on today's Wenhua Rd. (between Zhongzhen Rd. and Zhongshan Rd.) in East District Chiayi when painting this piece. In this one-point perspective structured by the electric poles, the street scene unfolds from the focal fountain in the middle ground. Besides placing visual clues to the locality (such as the relative position of the fountain to the buildings), he also injected his familiar themes—electric poles and staffage (e.g. mother and child, pedestrian with parasol, venders, animals, etc.). Careful attention was given to the postures of the human figures and writing on the facades. These elements are not only decorative but also play an important narrative role. Staffage is a hallmark of Chen's landscape paintings, used to awaken the viewer's memories about a space and make the picture not only a vernacular sketch, but also a vignette of an everyday scene.
Related Collections/
No related collections.
Bibliography/
- Chuanying Yen, The Complete Collection of Taiwanese Art 1: Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Artist Publishing, 1992), 236.
- Yuchun Lin, Oil‧Passion‧Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Lion Art Publishing, 1998), 108-111.
- Yuchun Lin, "The Real Scenes and Images Utopia in Chen Cheng-Po's Journey of Life," in Journey through Jiangnan: A Pivotal Moment in Chen Cheng-Po's Artistic Quest, ed. Yuchun Lin et al. (Taipei City: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2012), 6-14.
Downtown Chiayi
1934
Materials & Techniques：Oil on canvas
Dimension：91x117 cm
Private Collection
Location:Chiayi Central Fountain (now located between Wenhua Rd., Zhongzheng Rd. and Zhongshan Rd., East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan).
