A Graceful Age /espresso cup

The artist Chen Cheng-po drew this work as a teacher in Shanghai. In a park in the French Concession, a group of men and women wearing modern-style hats are spirited and full of life. This simple pencil sketch with practiced, fluid lines affords a glimpse of 1930s French elegance in Old Shanghai. The designer has ingeniously captured this enchanting vision of yesteryear in a work of porcelain. About the masterpiece A Corner in French Park-30.11.21 1930 Pencil on paper 29.3×38.3cm Private collection “A Corner in French Park” is set in Shanghai’s former French Concession, what is today’s Fuxing Park in Huangpu District. After graduating from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1929, Chen Cheng-Po moved to Shanghai, where he taught for four years. His artworks during this period reflected his daily living environment. This work is a sketch he made while strolling through the city. Fluid lines depict the leisurely image of friends gathering together. The broad-brimmed hats seated on their heads at different angles produce a light, flowing cadence.