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Tan Teng-pho

1895 – 1947

Taiwanese artist

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About Tan Teng-pho

Lived 1895 – 1947 (aged 52). Tan Teng-pho was a Taiwanese and Chinese painter.

Chen Cheng-po (; 2 February 1895 – 25 March 1947), was a Taiwanese painter and politician. In 1926, his oil painting Street of Chiayi was featured in the seventh Teiten (Imperial Arts Exhibition) in Japan, which was the first time a Taiwanese artist's work could be displayed at the exhibition.

Education He enrolled in the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School in 1913, where he studied Western-style watercolor painting under Kinichiro Ishikawa. In 1924, he went to mainland Japan to receive formal academic training in art under Japanese oil painter Tanabe Itaru at the Normal Education Division in Painting of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (today's Tokyo University of the Arts). Chen also studied privately under Japanese luminarist Okada Saburosuke at his Hongō Painting Institute.

Work and public life After completing his graduate program in 1929, he moved to Shanghai to teach at Xinhua Art College and Changming Art School . During his stay in Shanghai, he was influenced by the traditional Chinese painting of Ni Yunlin and Bada Shanren, and began to develop a distinctive style that fuses the lyrical essence of Chinese landscape painting with Western painting techniques. His work includes oil painting, glue color painting, and sketching while his themes center on landscapes and portraits, mostly inspired by everyday scenes around him.

In 1926, his work Street of Kagi was selected for the 7th , making him the first Taiwanese painter to have an oil painting accepted for the exhibition. His success continued after this initial breakthrough, and his works were selected several times for the Imperial Art Exhibition, , and , as well as exhibitions held by Japanese art groups outside the state-run exhibition circle like and . After returning to Taiwan, the focus of his work shifted to the scenery of his hometown, as he showcased the charm of the Taiwanese landscape with plein-air works painted in Tamsui, Kagi and Tainan.

Painter Hsieh Li-fa has described Chen's artistic style as clumsy and awkward, which biographer Ko Tsung-min believed was intentional, comparing Chen's work to Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

Besides painting, Chen was also actively involved in Taiwanese art movements. Among other art movement activities, he co-founded the Chi-Hsing Painting Society in 1926, co-founded the Tai-Yang Art Society with Yang Sanlang and Liao Chi-chun in 1934, and helped young artists in Kagi establish the Qingchen Fine Art Association in 1940. His contributions to broadening the influence of art in Taiwan also extended to his service as a Chiayi City Councilor, and as a juror at the first Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibition after the handover of Taiwan in 1945.

Death Due to the February 28 Incident, severe conflict occurred in 1947 between Chiayi citizens and the KMT, whose military was trapped inside the city's airport. The "February 28 Incident Committee" was established, composed of Chen and five others who would approach the military as representatives of peace. The military, however, captured four of them, including Chen, and released the remaining two.

Tamsui, an oil painting, was purchased in 2006 for $4.5 million (NT$144 million) by Pierre Chen, setting a world record for an oil painting by an ethnically Chinese artist.

In 2015, a Google Doodle commemorated his 120th birthday.

His paintings form the artwork for Lin Man-chiu's picture book 《戴帽子的女孩》[The Girl in the Hat]

Chen's grandson Pu Hao-ming also became an artist. Pu is known for creating a statue of .

A minor planet was named after Chen in 2025.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Education
Tokyo University of the Arts, Taiwan Governor's Office Japanese School
Awards
Japan Fine Arts Exhibition
Also known as
Chen Cheng-Po, Tan Ting-pho, C.T.P., Chin Toha, Chen Chengbo

People in Tan Teng-pho's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Tan Teng-pho's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Tan Teng-pho?

Taiwanese artist (1895–1947)

When was Tan Teng-pho born?

Tan Teng-pho was born on 2 February 1895 in Tainan Prefecture.

When did Tan Teng-pho die?

Tan Teng-pho died on 25 March 1947.

What was Tan Teng-pho's occupation?

Tan Teng-pho was a painter.

What nationality was Tan Teng-pho?

Tan Teng-pho was Taiwanese and Chinese.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Tan Teng-pho

· Wikidata: Q707301

· DBpedia: Chen Cheng-po

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Tan Teng-pho. https://biography.guide/tan-teng-pho/

MLA: "Tan Teng-pho." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/tan-teng-pho/.

Chicago: "Tan Teng-pho." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/tan-teng-pho/.

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