A Different Way of Looking at Paintings
Rediscovering Taiwan: Chen Cheng-po's 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition
Long time no see! The translation projects I had been working on have finally wrapped up, and I can now take a short break. Two of my book translations will be published next month, and I look forward to sharing them with you.
In this post, I’d like to introduce an exhibition that’s about to end: Rediscovering Taiwan: Chen Cheng-po's 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition. Although I visited it back in February, I didn’t get around to writing about it until the very last moment.
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這篇文章的中文版在這裡。
Chen Cheng-po 陳澄波 (1895–1947), born in Chiayi, began studying painting in Tokyo at the age of 29 (1924). In 1926, his oil painting Outside Chiayi Street (I) was selected for the Imperial Art Exhibition. After graduating, he took a teaching position in Shanghai (1929). In 1933, he returned to Taiwan, where he settled and co-founded the Tai-Yang Art Association with fellow Taiwanese artists. In 1947, he was implicated in the February 28 Incident and was killed at the age of 53.1
Chen Cheng-po is one of my favorite Taiwanese artists. I’m always drawn to the vitality of his paintings whenever I see the originals, and I’m always struck by the year “1947”—the year he was killed during the February 28 Incident.
This year marks the 130th anniversary of Chen Cheng-po’s birth. To commemorate the occasion, the Chen Cheng-po Cultural Foundation has organized a small yet beautiful exhibition titled Rediscovering Taiwan: Chen Cheng-po's 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition. The exhibition features just eight paintings, presented through three clear thematic axes—the Kuroshio Current, the Tropic of Cancer, and the monsoon—to guide visitors in viewing the works. In addition to the paintings, the curatorial team has paired them with natural history objects, inviting visitors to become naturalists and observe the island with fresh eyes.
The Kuroshio Current, the Tropic of Cancer, and the monsoon are key forces that shape Taiwan’s natural environment. Along with water vapor intercepted by the mountains, they help form a cloud forest belt at elevations between 1,800 and 2,500 meters. Thanks to the monsoon, Taiwan—despite being located on the Tropic of Cancer—is not a desert, but a lush, forested island. These natural features help define the coordinates of Taiwan’s ecological and cultural identity.
I learned from a guided tour by Professor Hung Kuang-chi in February that many of Chen Cheng-po’s paintings are not straightforward reflections of reality, but are transformed through the artist’s creative ingenuity. For example, when comparing Tropic of Cancer Landmark with a photograph taken from the same angle, one notices that the actual landscape is rather desolate, with no acacia trees visible from that viewpoint. In the original version of the painting, the sky was clear, but Chen later modified it to depict dark storm clouds. These artistic choices may reflect Chen’s vision of a tropical discourse: Taiwan is not (or not merely) a small, sweltering island under the gaze of the Japanese Empire, but a cherished homeland that sustains and nurtures life.
I’ve recently started learning to paint myself, and I can relate to this perspective. The choice of subject matter and the manner of presentation are often deliberate decisions made by the artist—each painting, thus, presents an argument. Analyzing artworks from this viewpoint makes the experience all the more engaging.
Rediscovering Taiwan: Chen Cheng-po’s 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition only runs until the day after tomorrow. This weekend is a great time to visit the exhibition.
National Taiwan Museum — Railway Department Park
Address: No. 2, Section 1, Yanping North Road, Datong Dist., Taipei City
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Website: https://event.culture.tw/mocweb/reg/NTM/Detail.init.ctr?actId=40279
Rediscovering Taiwan: Chen Cheng-po’s 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition
Time: December 3, 2024 to May 11, 2025
After Chen Cheng-po’s death, his wife, Chang Chieh (1899–1993), hid his paintings and other personal belongings in the attic. She endured harassment from intelligence agencies and worked hard to raise their children. It was only after martial law was lifted in Taiwan that Chen Cheng-po’s story and artwork could finally be properly commemorated and exhibited.2
The National Museum of Taiwan History’s special exhibition, Painting from Life: The Story and Times of Chang Chieh and Chen Cheng-po, tells this powerful story. I look forward to visiting Tainan to see it in person!
National Museum of Taiwan History
Address: No. 250, Sec. 1, Changhe Rd., Annan District, Tainan City
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Website: https://www.nmth.gov.tw/Painting from Life: The Story and Times of Chang Chieh and Chen Cheng-po—A Special Exhibition
Time: April 20, 2025 to March 1, 2026
Chen Cheng-po Cultural Foundation, “Biography of Chen Cheng-po”: https://chengpo.org/%E9%99%B3%E6%BE%84%E6%B3%A2%E7%B0%A1%E4%BB%8B/
Chen Cheng-po Cultural Foundation, “Biography of Chang Chieh”: https://chengpo.org/%e5%bc%b5%e6%8d%b7%e7%b0%a1%e4%bb%8b/