Illustrated:

Influenced by the French artists, Céanne and Bonnard, Chen Te-wang paid particular attention on the relationship between shapes and colors. He spent his entire life painstakingly looking for the true essence of painting by conducting various kinds of experimental creations and publishing the gains of his personal research. He believes that the issue of painting fundamentals takes utmost importance and he has his own take on the depiction of nature, "To translate Nature into shapes, take out all unnecessary items, and after analyzing and sorting, portray the profound Nature with the simplest of forms. Inside a painting, all that remains are relationships between shapes¹."

Chen Te-wang's "The Scenery of Tamsui", a 1975 piece of oil, was composed of subjects made from a deliberation of colors. Due to the exquisite and carefree colors, all of the clouds in the sky, the faraway mountains, the seawaters and the houses by the riverbank, form an extremely simple composition, using only colors to suggest the links between the subjects. However, the artist also believes that one cannot paint a picture simply by rules of color usage alone, natural emotional elements should be added as well. Painting concerns the depiction of such emotions, thus regardless of how abstract a painting appears to be, the emotions ought to be preserved. It is the most fundamental issue. From the logical analysis of shapes and colors to the emotions produced while painting, Chen Te-wang provided viewers with an eye-pleasing sense of grace and beauty by standing in front of the canvass, looking time and again at the familiar skies and coastlines, and applying layers upon layers of colors onto a familiar Tamsui in order to concoct the most harmonious picture within his heart.

1 Wang Wei-kuang, ed., The 6 basic fundamentals, "A Record of Chen Te Wang,'s Comments on Painting in his Later Years" Wang Wei-kuang, Taiwan Fine Arts Series 15: Chen Te Wang, Artist Co. Ltd, Taipei, first printed 30 March 1995, p.25.