程
Cheng Shifa
程十发
1921–2007 Modern Dynasty The storyteller of Shanghai's golden age
Biography
Cheng Shifa was one of modern China's most beloved artists, celebrated for his ink paintings that brought folk tales and ethnic minority life to vivid, joyful color. Though best known as a painter, his creative spirit was deeply rooted in the same Shanghai cultural renaissance that inspired Yixing potters of his era to push clay into new artistic territory. His legacy reminds us that the mid-20th century was a golden age of cross-disciplinary inspiration, where painters, poets, and pottery masters all drew from the same well of imagination.
Key Contribution
Cheng Shifa bridged the worlds of fine art and folk tradition, inspiring a generation of artisans — including Yixing pottery makers — to see everyday life and mythology as worthy of the highest craft.
Referenced in the Book
p. 143