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“Tsáu Tshuē Lán Ê Sóo-Tsāi: Chen Cheng-po’s 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition”—Rediscovering Taiwan from Art and Nature

  • Date:2025-01-10

  • Original Date:2024-12-02


This year witnesses the 130th Birthday Anniversary of Chen Cheng-po, the late iconic pioneering painter in Taiwan. National Taiwan Museum (NTM) holds the “Tsáu Tshuē Lán Ê Sóo-Tsāi: Chen Cheng-po’s 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition” at the Railway Department Park as of today until May 11 2025. This special exhibition features the marriage of Chen’s eight original paintings and NTM’s natural history collection. From the perspective of the intellectuals in earlier times and through the lens of the museum for natural history studies, Taiwan’s different and diversified development of humanities and nature will be shown to the public, guiding everyone to rediscover the unique features of Taiwan.

There were important guests at home and abroad attending the opening ceremony today, including Minister of Culture Li Yuan, Chairman of the Chen Cheng-po Cultural Foundation Chen Li-po, Chiayi City Mayor Huang Min-hui, National Palace Museum Director Hsiao Tsung-huang, NTM Director Chen Teng-Chin, Hofu City Mayor Yutaka Ikeda, etc.

Minister of Culture Li Yuan said that this special exhibition reminded him of the days he made the documentary “In Quest for Life Resilience in Taiwan,” when he was 39. Li, who majored in biology at college, would especially like to compare Taiwan to Mother Nature. At that time, he happened to see Chen Cheng-po’s paintings. Though warned not to discuss anything about the 228 Incident, he insisted on talking about Chen in the documentary and thus embarked on a tracing journey of the painter’s experiences and works in that historical setting.

“Crimson is wind, crimson is fire, and crimson is heart. Crimson is an endless song I paint upon my canvas,” quoted by Li from the poetry collection “Crimson Sings,” as he shared his imagination of Chen Cheng-po. Chen conversed with his paintings as if he were singing. He must have been a man of happiness and contentment, by which he depicted all his works. Li added that he was moved with excitement because he met Chen once again years after the tracing journey. This time, his works blended in with Taiwan’s animals, plants, minerals, etc. Li came to appreciate the magic of Chen Cheng-po’s paintings, which were clear demonstrations of the foremost life resilience representing Taiwan.

Chen Li-po, chairman of the Chen Cheng-po Cultural Foundation, said after the 120th anniversary exhibition, he had been thinking whether there were other possibilities of Chen Cheng-po’s paintings in addition to art history and the art world. Ultimately, he chose to collaborate with the museum. During the discussion, he was surprised to realize that his grandfather’s works cleared up the confusion that haunted him for thirty years. He had been trying to find ways to introduce his hometown and express the Taiwanese spirit while living abroad. It turned out that “Mother Nature” was the answer.

The “Tsáu Tshuē Lán Ê Sóo-Tsāi: Chen Cheng-po’s 130th Birthday Anniversary Exhibition” opens up with displays of Chen Cheng-po’s oil paintings such as Tropic of Cancer Landmark, A Farming Household, East Taiwan Coastal Road, Crashing Waves, Accumulated Snow on Jade Mountain, etc., together with NTM’s collection and newly collected specimens of fish and plants. The exhibition also introduces unique natural phenomena that affect Taiwan, like the Kuroshio Current, the monsoon, and the subtropical climate due to the passing of the Tropic of Cancer. Moreover, high species variation resulting from them makes Taiwan a microcosm of the ecosystem in the northern hemisphere, thereby nurturing rich cultural diversity, including the development of fishery and economic exchange. This special exhibition elaborates on everything on this island blessed with the convergence of these natural conditions.

According to NTM Director Chen Teng-Chin, few people can quickly connect the museum with art, but this special exhibition not only reviews Chen Cheng-po’s artistic achievements but also offers people an opportunity to rediscover Taiwan’s culture and nature. The exhibition, combined with the convergence of natural forces of the Tropic of Cancer, the monsoon, and the Kuroshio Current, focuses on the paintings, which, in the meantime, show how these natural conditions create Taiwan’s ecological environment and cultural features. It is a special try.

Pioneering Taiwanese artist Chen Cheng-po kept track of Taiwan with his brushes, bequeathing to our land many pieces of awe-inspiring scenery. His paintings are not just an emotional outlet but a kind of eulogy and exploration of nature. Through his works, we can get closer to our land, appreciating its natural power that always thrives, as if turning back in time.

The curating team said “Tsáu Tshuē Lán Ê Sóo-Tsāi” is more of an invitation card to a forum on public issues than of a name of a special exhibition. National Taiwan Museum welcomes the public to the exhibition. Chen Cheng-po’s oil paintings allow us to observe our motherland up close and personal, a “home” (Sóo-Tsāi) that is naturally and geographically blessed.


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Translator: 陳琪徨/NTU-Graduate Program of Translation and Interpretation (NTU GPTI)

Editor: Phaedra Fang/ National Taiwan Museum