Watercolour on paper

26×38 cm. 10 1/4×15 in

Signed in French and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Important Private Collection, Asia

Deep Looks with Lasting Impressions
One of the most well-known Taiwanese artists of the 20th century, Chen Cheng-Po was born in 1895 in Chiayi and studied under the great Japanese watercolor painter Kinichiro Ishikawa in 1913. In 1924, the artist traveled to Japan together with Liao Chi-Chun and others to attend art school, during which time his work Outside Chiayi Street was selected as part of the Imperial Art Exhibition （otherwise known as Teiten）, making him the first Taiwanese artist to be awarded with such an honor for an oil painting. After graduating from art school, Chen took a job in Shanghai while continuing to stay involved in the establishment of many important art groups, and his contributions to the promotion of art have been widely recognized.
Chen Cheng-Po created less than one hundred watercolor paintings during his lifetime, very few of which featured the theme of nude women. He began painting female nudes as early as his sophomore year at the Tokyo Arts College, and his classmate and friend Lin Yu-Shan once commented, “Chen’s body paintings feature delicate brush strokes and a strange style. The paintings are wholly peculiar and embody the way in which he chose to express his thoughts and emotions.” This auction features the artist’s 1932 creation Nude Woman. The thought patterns of Chinese people at the time of its creation were very conservative, but the then Shanghai-based Chen was meanwhile pushing the boundaries of modernity through his art. In Nude Woman, Chen depicts a woman lying naked on a beach； she has one hand on her waist and the other resting on the back of her head, her crossed legs jutting into the air – quite the comfortable pose! Her long flowing hair blends into the background, appearing deceivingly similar to seaweed, and the artist fluently employs relaxed brushwork to present a most vivid image.
Chen Cheng-Po left Shanghai months after his completion of Nude Woman, and the artist lost his life in 1947 during his participation in the February 28 Incident, an outbreak of large-scale conflict between the Taiwanese people and Kuomintang government. Many young people were deeply affected by this event, and poet Li Kuei-Hsien once said, “On that day, we lost ourselves. We could only continue on by living indifferently.” Chen Cheng-Po left behind a bright chapter in both the history of art and annals of China and is therefore someone who will not be easily forgotten.

Price estimate:
HKD: 60, 000 - 100, 000
USD: 7, 700 - 12, 800

Auction Result:
HKD: --