Description/
After graduating from the Normal Education Division, Chen Cheng-po continued with the graduate program at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. His techniques were becoming more and more mature with the academic training. In this painting, his proportioning of near and distant buildings, expression of field of depth, treatment of details and depiction of three-dimensional forms through chiaroscuro demonstrate that he had mastered the sketching principles emphasized in classical Western painting. He chose the same street near his home as the subject just like in Outside Chiayi Street. Using linear perspective, he raises the horizon to give a 2:3 ratio of sky and ground and offset the vanishing point to the right of the picture. Such composition makes the plaza and the road in front of the temple appear wider and gives a clear view of the temple and the residential facades behind and their relative locations. The scorching sun can be felt through the bamboo hat on the man carrying a shoulder pole, the parasol, the steamy dirt road and the shadows on the road. On the plaza in the foreground, small clusters of people are washing or chatting under the shade. Two white geese by the road add a narrative to the picture, while the diagonal gutter bespeaks a modernizing city.
Bibliography/
- Hanni Chiu, "A Preliminary Exploration of Images of Chiayi by Chen Cheng-Po," in Archive‧Imaging‧New Vision—An Exhibition of Artifacts and Documents and Academic Symposium on Cheng Cheng-Po," ed. Shihming Pai (Chiayi City: Chiayi City Cultural Affairs Bureau, 2011), 105.
- Yuchun Lin, "The Realm of Imagination, the Locus of Creation—Mapping the Drawings and Paintings of Chen Cheng-Po," Modern Art 161 (2012): 96.
Temple of Wenling Sea Goddess (Matsu)
1927
Materials & Techniques：Oil on canvas
Dimension：91x116.5 cm
Private Collection
Location:Temple of Wenling Sea Goddess (Matsu) (Today’s Chaotian Temple at No. 276, Yanping St., Chiayi City, Taiwan)
