Chen Chao-pao: Broadening Horizons on the Right Bank

Chen Chao-pao's cartoons began making their appearance in Taiwan's newspapers eight or nine years ago. His work was full of humor and vitality, and in time Chen had an international audience. His abilities weren't confined to the newspaper page, however, and soon he began to exhibit his paintings. "So you're a painter, too," said observers. But Chen had other surprises for the public. Three years ago he left a stable career in Taiwan and took his wife, daughter, and six months' savings and moved to Paris.

Why throw away a steady income and start over in one of the world's most competitive art centers? His friend and magazine editor Lin Wen-yi will tell you Chen Chao-pao has an amiable personality, willing to get along with most anyone, but is made of sterner stuff when it comes to painting.

Growing up in a poor family in rural Changhua County, Chen's talents were discovered early by a perceptive high school teacher. Later he attended art school, and after leaving the army, could have assumed a teaching position his teacher had found him. Chen had other ideas, however, and went to Taipei.

Although finding steady work in the big city was difficult, Chen eventually landed a job drawing cartoons for Crown magazine. With money worries behind him, he was free to spend his evenings on ink painting, "his own religion," according to Lin Wen-yi. His first series of cartoons for Crown described his job-hunting experiences and met a warm reception. Later, his work began to appear in the prestigious United Daily News and in international publications.

While establishing his name as a cartoonist, Chen Chao-pao began to exhibit his ink paintings. Those who took him for an amiable cartoonist were in for a surprise when they saw his work in another medium. One painting showed a modern woman bedecked in high heels and a backless dress, languidly resting at the feet of another who might have stepped in from the Han dynasty. In another picture, History's Traces, a peaceful river scene is disrupted by large, fragmented, white pieces of space at the bottom and center. Despite his boldness and originality of spirit, though, Chen still had difficulty in getting himself accepted as more than a cartoonist.

Chen took a philosophical approach toward the problem. Cartoons, he wrote, were small and quickly completed, leading many people to consider them as something less than serious art. Yet the line between art and cartoons was a fine one; sometimes cartoon-like drawings came closer to the spirit of an age than "serious" art. Examples could be found both East and West, in the spirits portrayed by Sung dynasty (960-1279) splash-ink artists and in much of Picasso's work. He also noted. "Cartoons are like instant noodles while art is more like a full course dinner. Instant noodles may be tasty and convenient, but they don't satisfy me."

All the same, instant noodles meant a steady income. Cartoon drawing helped Chen expand his expressiveness and sharpen his wit. It also gave him the means to travel, and with camera in hand, he went to Taiwan's outlying islands and then to Japan, North America, Southeast Asia, West Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

The place that made the deepest impression on Chen was Paris. Picture postcards, posters, and paintings could be found everywhere, in stores and on the streets. The museums were full of the work of Cezanne, Gaugin, Van Gogh, and Lautrec, and Chen spent hours going over their sketches and biographies, studying how they made themselves into great artists.

The Biannual Paris Art Fair, which showed artists from everywhere working in every kind of medium, stimulated Chen especially. He paid particular attention to the cartoonists, and the event left him full of confidence and inspiration for his own work. Three years ago he moved to Paris, with no more assurance of success than he had when left for Taipei years ago.

Paris, Chen soon learned, has an extremely tight housing market as well as a treasure of art. Unable to find inexpensive accommodations or a sympathetic landlord, he and his family lived with friends. With their six months savings going quickly, he threw himself back into cartoons, drawing pictures of daily life in Paris for his old employer, Crown. Money was tight, and French lessons were dropped after three months to help the family finances. His first Paris paintings he framed himself and today he says, "(The frames) made my pictures look so down-and-out."

Yet eventually he managed to exhibit his paintings, and word passed through Parisian art circles that here was a Chinese painter with considerable potential, who painted with clean, strong brushstrokes and didn't seem to copy anyone. His first show sold six canvases, an impressive feat for a newcomer. Later an American offered to be his agent, and Chen was free to leave the commercial part of the art world and concentrate on his work.

At the end of last year, he exhibited over 100 samples of his art at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. His subjects included traditional mythical characters and modern ones such as tourists and jockeys, portrayed in a variety of techniques. Looking at his work, Chen conceives of tradition as a well-stocked, inexhaustible attic, full of myth, murals, literature, and folk art, all to help him better express what he sees and feels around him. Said one critic, "Myths that we've only heard of or read in old books Chen brings to life in his paintings."

Artist Ch'iu Hsi-hsun feels movies have also influenced Chen. "Look at Muscle And Horse. The horse takes up well over half the picture but its outline is barely traced. The strong man is small but very clear. It's like the focus was on the man but then the horse crowded too close to the lens, making for a blurry kind of effect."

Success has also changed Chen's personality. Friends from high school remember him as shy and a bit doltish, but now Chen projects a confident, expansive spirit. One friend pointed to Muscle And Horse and asked, "What makes this horse so good?" Chen replied, "Well, I think it's because it has a fat, sexy butt."

[Picture Caption]

Chen Chao-pao in his Paris studio. (Photo by Lin Po-liang and supplied by Chen Chao-pao.)

Riders and Mountains, 1984.

French food also gave inspiration to Chen. (Cartoon originally appeared in Crown magazine.)

One of Chen's political cartoons printed by the Associated Press. (Photo supplied by United Daily News.)

The boyish and modest Chen poses for a portrait.

Different Time, Different Style, Same Age, 1980.

Muscle and Horse, 1985.

Spectators at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum look over Chen's ink-and-wash works.

Chen feels sketches best represent an artist's feelings. At right is Flirtatious, 1985.

Riders and Mountains, 1984.

The boyish and modest Chen poses for a portrait.

One of Chen's political cartoons printed by the Associated Press. （Photo supplied by United Daily News.）

French food also gave inspiration to Chen. （Cartoon originally appeared in Crown magazine.）

Different Time, Different Style, Same Age, 1980.

Spectators at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum look over Chen's ink-and-wash works.

Muscle and Horse, 1985.

Chen feels sketches best represent an artist's feelings. At right is Flirtatious, 1985.