Description/
This modest size 4 painting is Chen Cheng-po's last work. His son Chen Tsung-kuang recalls being able to clearly see the distant snow-capped Mount Jade and her profile from their old home in Lanjing St., Chiayi, the likely vantage point of this painting. The subject here—Mount Jade—is depicted with pithy outlines. A thick layer of snow blanketing the summit leaps out as the most brilliant color. The mountains in the middle ground are portrayed with a sharp variation in brightness, so their peaks look remarkably three-dimensional despite a heavier palette. The deep blue of the sky seems to suggest an imminent dawn, while a light sprinkling of golden rays is already visible on the rooftops and trees in the foreground. Because of a shortage in resource after the war, Chen could only use his limited ration of paint on a small canvas, but his expressiveness was nevertheless not curtailed. Here, he trades his highly descriptive style of the past with an understated pictorial language and more forthright techniques to impart the frosty solitude of Taiwan's highest peak and his foremost respect for the art of painting.
Bibliography/
- Chuanying Yen, The Complete Collection of Taiwanese Art 1: Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Artist Publishing, 1992), 242.
- Yuchun Lin, Oil‧Passion‧Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Lion Art Publishing, 1998), 143.
- Liyun Lin, Echoing footsteps—Artistic Images of Taiwan's Mountains and Jizheng Lu (Taipei City: Lion Art Publishing, 2004), 53-59.
- Soka Arts and Cultural Center Committee ed., Under the Searing Sun: A Solo Exhibition by Chen Cheng-Po (Taipei City: Chin-Shuan Cultural & Educational Foundation, 2012), 87.
Snow on Mt. Jade
1947.02
Materials & Techniques：Oil on wood panel
Dimension：23.5x33 cm
Private Collection
Location:Jade Mountain (the main peak of Jade Mountain is in Nantou County, Taiwan)
