Taiwan's national treasure movie poster artist Chen Tzu-fu (陳子福) passed away on Oct. 25 at the age of 97. With a career spanning over five decades, he produced many classic hand-painted movie posters, and his works represented the golden era of Taiwan film history. Upon hearing the news, Culture Minister expressed his heartfelt condolences and will propose awarding a presidential citation posthumously to Chen.
Born in 1926, Chen grew up in Taipei's Ximending area. He never received formal training in the arts, yet he could accurately capture the essence of a film and portray the charm of the characters with his brush. In his early days, Chen was introduced to work in a workshop specialized in drawing billboards and he went on to work at the Cathay Organization (HK) Ltd (國泰電影公司). During his tenure, he often took initiative to repair posters from abroad and was given the opportunity to recreate the promotional poster for the movie "Bloodshed on an Oriental Cherry (血濺櫻花)," which ignited his passion for poster painting. Later, he was commissioned to paint the poster for the movie "Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan (薛平貴與王寶釧)," a significant achievement that helped him build a strong reputation as a film poster artist and prompted his decision to enter the film industry.
Some of Chen's most well-known works include the film posters for "Love Never Ceases (舊情綿綿)," "Oyster Girl (蚵女)," "Brother Wang And Brother Liu Tour Taiwan (王哥柳哥遊台灣)." Throughout his life, he produced nearly 5,000 hand-painted works. From 2018 to 2019, he donated 1,172 posters to the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute.
In 2006, he won the 43rd Golden Horse Awards Lifetime Achievement Special Award, and his hand-painted posters were showcased at this year's National Day Projection Mapping Show titled "Treasure Island with Light and Love of the Land."
Minister Lee stated that Chen not only created many classic works but had also dedicated his life to the promotion and continuation of Taiwan's film industry, and his legacy will be cherished forever by future generations.