Description/
A road begins in the foreground of this picture and curves from left to right and finally into the background. The spaces created along the two sides of the road are packed with sprawling trees and red-tiled roofs. Almost everyone in the procession is seen holding a Japanese national flag. The word "celebration" is legible on a banner held high in the front, indicating this to be a procession for sending off the army. The painter cleverly hints at the Taiwanese locality with the Minnan-style buildings recognizable by their red tiles and vermilion walls. Ever since the Governor-General's Office began holding the Taiwan Art Exhibition in 1927, the Japanese jury responsible for this state-run exhibition had been encouraging participating artists to express Taiwan's vernacular features. They sought the so-called "local colors" and promoted the injection of indigenous elements, such as native flora and fauna, folk rituals and traditional architecture. After World War II broke out, the Taiwan Art Exhibition was restructured as the Taiwan Viceroy Art Exhibition. There was a new trend to produce war-themed paintings coined the "War Propaganda" or "Holy War Art" movement. Besides the war theme in this painting, landmarks typifying his other works in the Tamsui series—the church spire, Red House and White House—are missing in this picture, making it obvious that Chen Cheng-po had a very different intent here from the other works.
Bibliography/
- Yuanjian Chen, "Miscellaneous Writing on Chen Cheng-Po," Modern Art 41 (1992.04): 90.
- Suchu Li, Something that Reflects the Era—A Study of Paintings by Chen Cheng-Po ( Taipei City: Art & Collection Group Publishing, 2012), 120-131.
Tamsui after Rain
Date Unknown
Materials & Techniques：Oil on canvas
Dimension：45.5x53 cm
Private Collection
Location:Tamsui (today's Tamsui Dist., New Taipei City, Taiwan)
