Preserving the legacy of Chen Cheng-Po 陳澄波: Restoration project of the first Western style painter of Taiwan

Abstract

This project restored 24 paintings of Chen Cheng-Po 陳澄波 (1895–1947), a significant Taiwanese painter in the Western style, across the three periods of the artist’s life. The restoration project employed chemical analysis, X-ray imaging, ultraviolet and infrared light examination to develop a deeper understanding of the artist’s technique. The conservation project examined how the artist used the canvas, the history of the canvases themselves and how the artist’s family protected the paintings from the then dictatorship to avoid their destruction. At the same time, we have also discovered how the artist transported canvases between outdoor locations where he painted and his studio. The technical conservation research carried out has provided us with a better understanding of Chen Cheng-Po’s technique in creating his paintings.

Keywords:

• Chen Cheng-Po
• Conservation
• Canvas pin
• Texture prints
• Restoration
• Taiwan
• Western style painting

Notes

1 The ‘February 28 Incident’ also knows as ‘228 Massacre’ was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that occurred in 1947, which was violently repressed by the Kuomitang. More than 10,000 persons were killed.

2 Several conversations with the artist´s family confirmed that Chen Cheng-Po in Tokyo had economic difficulties.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ioseba I. Soraluze

Ioseba I. Soraluze is part-time professor at Tainan National University of the Arts and a freelance contemporary art conservator based in Taiwan. From 2006 to 2019 he was the Head of Paintings Department at the Conservation Center of Cheng Shiu University in Kaohsiung. Previously, he worked as paintings conservator at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and in several contemporary art museums in Spain. He received his PhD from the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

Han-Chung Wu

Han-Chung Wu has a master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry from the National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry at National Cheng-Kung University. Since 2008 he has been responsible for scientific examination at the Conservation Center of Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung.