Description/
This watercolor was completed by Chen Cheng-po while working at Shuishang Public School in Chiayi and before he went to Japan to study. The scene is set up as a one-point perspective, and strokes of green, brown and blue are applied in a concise and skillful fashion according to the basic characteristics of the sky, ground and lumber. A comparison with a postcard photograph showing the Chiayi Lumber Factory during the Japanese colonial period shows the painting's likeness to the actual scene, reflecting Chen's method of painting on site. The Chiayi Lumber Factory was under the direct jurisdiction of the Bureau of Forestry, Governor General's Office. It was the largest lumber production base in Taiwan and lumber processing started here in 1914. All log harvested from Ali Mountain was first sent here for processing and then transported via rail for sale elsewhere. The plant occupied thousands of square meters in area, and a dedicated combustion plant powered its machinery. The advanced facility was not only a model for the logging industry but also a popular tourist destination. Chen includes the bristling factories, the chimney of the combustion plant and the crane cables all into the composition, explicitly conveying the hectic processes and rigorous division of machinery involved through these icons for the various components of the plant.
Bibliography/
- Yuchun Lin, Oil‧Passion‧Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Lion Art Publishing, 1998), 24.
- Yiting Wang, “A Study on Production and Sales in the Logging Industry and the Social Network in Chiayi City” (Master's thesis, Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture, National University of Tainan, Tainan City, 2005).
- Suxiang Wu, “A Study on the Development of Chiayi's City Streets and the Logging Industry on Mount Ali” (Master's thesis, Master's program in Social Studies Education, Department of Culture and Natural Resources, National University of Tainan, Tainan City, 2009).
- Shian Chen, “Processing Factory of Bamboo Handcraft.” Encyclopedia of Taiwan, Ministry of Culture
Lumber Factory
1921
Materials & Techniques：Watercolor on paper
Dimension：18.2x23.5 cm
Collection of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Chiayi City
Location:Chiayi Lumber Factory (now west of Zhongxiao Rd., and north of Linsen W. Rd. and Gonghe Rd., behind the Culture Affairs Bureau of Chiayi City Government, Chiayi, Taiwan)
