Description/
While living in Shanghai, Chen Cheng-po painted a series depicting the city's urban sights such as French Park, Shanghai Shipyard, Sport Ground and this work. A comparison of a postcard he collected shows the subject is the Bund. Although he did not detail the statue in the picture, the profile identifies it as the World War I Memorial erected in 1924 (it was later destroyed during WWII). A winged goddess gazes down in consolation on the woman and child by her left and right. The monument was located near the harbor on the Bund and backs onto the harbor. The high-rise buildings across the boulevard are foreign banks, trading shops and consulates. A master of compositional hierarchy, Chen places the statue above a round podium in the center of the picture to draw the viewer's focus amidst the secondary themes—the background buildings and the dock to the right. The condensed row of facades and crowds reflect the hustle and bustle of Shanghai at the time.
Bibliography/
- Chuanying Yen, The Complete Collection of Taiwanese Art 1: Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Artist Publishing, 1992), 234.
- Yuchun Lin, Oil‧Passion‧Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Lion Art Publishing, 1998), 70-72.
Shanghai Dock
1933
Materials & Techniques：Oil on canvas
Dimension：38x46 cm
Private Collection
Location:The border between Shanghai International Settlement and the French Settlement, on Avenue Edward VII along the bank of Hangpu River (now on the Bund, Yanan E. Rd., Shanghai City, China)
