Description/
While living in China, Chen Cheng-po headed outdoor to sketch with his fellow painters whenever he had spare time. His favorite theme was probably West Lake, for which he painted many fine works like Stream, Dongpu Bridge at West Lake, Early Spring and Spring at West Lake. In particular, he explored many different angles, brushwork styles and palettes for portraying the reflection of the "Broken Bridge" on West Lake. In comparison with Stream, this piece has a brighter palette and more refined brushwork. The nearby leafless trees and reed and distant electric poles incarnate the movement of Chinese calligraphy. Chen once said that his theme and finished work were Eastern although the medium used was imported. His works during this period traded the impasto technique for light, sparing and carefree ink lines and the palette of classical Chinese landscape paintings (e.g. brown-yellows and blue-greens). He was pursuing an artistic idiom unique to the Orient by fusing Western oil medium with the lyrical lines of Eastern ink wash paintings.
Bibliography/
- Yuchun Lin, Oil‧Passion‧Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Lion Art Publishing, 1998), 56-62.
- 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), 8-11.
West Lake
1933
Materials & Techniques：Oil on canvas
Dimension：37.5x45 cm
Private Collection
Location:West Lake Broken Bridge (today's West Lake Broken Bridge in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China)
