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Lot Essay
In 1955, Chu Teh-Chun arrived at Paris to commence his new artistic journey. Inspired by vast number of neo-impressionist and abstract artists, Chu made his bold movement of stepping into the world of abstraction. Focusing on colour and light, Chu used his liberating brushworks to visualize the power of nature. Through the three works created in 1960, 1964 and 1980, we could join Chu Teh-Chun and understand how he expanded his poetic universe and connected the western abstract concepts with his oriental spirit.
Untitled (Lot 464) illustrates Chu Teh-Chun's early stage exploration in form, colour and light, capturing his effort in finding balance between western art and Chinese paintings and his life-long dedication in finding inspiration from nature. Spending five years in Paris, Western perception had a significant influence on Chu. The bold horizontal brush in the background divided the small canvas into two, recalling the composition of expansive European panorama paintings. This powerful gesture marks the horizon, displaying Chu's attempt to use simple stroke to capture the complexity of nature landscape.
The use of colour in Untitled also presents Chu Teh Chun's artistic conversation with Nicolas de Stael. He encountered Nicolas de Stael in the spring of 1956. De Stael's empirical practice of connecting forms and colours touched Chu and inspired him to seek for the potential possibilities of paint. In Untitled, the artist used organic brushstrokes to capture the rhythm of light and the essence of nature. The use of simple colour scheme connects with de Stael's Marathon. Nonetheless, while de Stael used rigid geometric to create a surface of alternating depth, Chu masterfully applied organic brushworks to capture the altering light in the nature, visualized the glow of his Chinese soul at the early stage of his career.
Composition No. 198 bis (Lot 462) is an intimate work that illustrates Chu's important exploration in brushworks and composition. The broad use of brush in the background and the detailed lines in the foreground interplay with each other, recalling the aura of Chinese painting and calligraphy and creates a poetic sense of space. Chu also varies the saturation and transparency, applying techniques in Chinese painting to generate a fluid space with multiple dimensions.
In Le 28.12.1980 (Lot 463), the seemingly separate western abstract art and Chinese painting interact with each other in a more harmonious way. This piece is truly unique in a way it transgresses the boundary between western and eastern art through multiple perspectives. Though painted on paper, the dense use of paint recalls the texture of his oil paintings. Furthermore, the overall composition is also more western at the first glance. Unlike Chinese paintings where artists apply empty blanks to emphasize the poetic dimension of nature. Le 28.12.1980 instead, uses thick layers of white to generate a similar effect. The movement of brushwork
is also more Western. The thick brown brushstrokes embellished by orange strokes in the background recall Turner's depiction of the dramatic snow storm in Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps . The gestural marks in Le 28.12.1980 creates a Western abstract painting at the first glance. Yet, the carefully planned composition and variation of brushstrokes as well as the balanced between light and dark hints at the fluidity of Chinese painting. Le 28.12.1980 blurs the split between ink work and oil painting, between west and east and became one of the signature characters of Chu's paintings.
Chu Teh-Chun defines art as a mirror of his true inner self. The combination of west and east not only reflects the international inspirations he sought out of old masters, modern abstract art i s ts and Chinese traditional painters, but also hints at the possibilities of cross-cultural communication through art. The gradual development in Chu's works represents his lifelong passion in incorporating the language of Chinese traditional art into the central stream of global modern art, generating a new branch of aesthetic.
Untitled (Lot 464) illustrates Chu Teh-Chun's early stage exploration in form, colour and light, capturing his effort in finding balance between western art and Chinese paintings and his life-long dedication in finding inspiration from nature. Spending five years in Paris, Western perception had a significant influence on Chu. The bold horizontal brush in the background divided the small canvas into two, recalling the composition of expansive European panorama paintings. This powerful gesture marks the horizon, displaying Chu's attempt to use simple stroke to capture the complexity of nature landscape.
The use of colour in Untitled also presents Chu Teh Chun's artistic conversation with Nicolas de Stael. He encountered Nicolas de Stael in the spring of 1956. De Stael's empirical practice of connecting forms and colours touched Chu and inspired him to seek for the potential possibilities of paint. In Untitled, the artist used organic brushstrokes to capture the rhythm of light and the essence of nature. The use of simple colour scheme connects with de Stael's Marathon. Nonetheless, while de Stael used rigid geometric to create a surface of alternating depth, Chu masterfully applied organic brushworks to capture the altering light in the nature, visualized the glow of his Chinese soul at the early stage of his career.
Composition No. 198 bis (Lot 462) is an intimate work that illustrates Chu's important exploration in brushworks and composition. The broad use of brush in the background and the detailed lines in the foreground interplay with each other, recalling the aura of Chinese painting and calligraphy and creates a poetic sense of space. Chu also varies the saturation and transparency, applying techniques in Chinese painting to generate a fluid space with multiple dimensions.
In Le 28.12.1980 (Lot 463), the seemingly separate western abstract art and Chinese painting interact with each other in a more harmonious way. This piece is truly unique in a way it transgresses the boundary between western and eastern art through multiple perspectives. Though painted on paper, the dense use of paint recalls the texture of his oil paintings. Furthermore, the overall composition is also more western at the first glance. Unlike Chinese paintings where artists apply empty blanks to emphasize the poetic dimension of nature. Le 28.12.1980 instead, uses thick layers of white to generate a similar effect. The movement of brushwork
is also more Western. The thick brown brushstrokes embellished by orange strokes in the background recall Turner's depiction of the dramatic snow storm in Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps . The gestural marks in Le 28.12.1980 creates a Western abstract painting at the first glance. Yet, the carefully planned composition and variation of brushstrokes as well as the balanced between light and dark hints at the fluidity of Chinese painting. Le 28.12.1980 blurs the split between ink work and oil painting, between west and east and became one of the signature characters of Chu's paintings.
Chu Teh-Chun defines art as a mirror of his true inner self. The combination of west and east not only reflects the international inspirations he sought out of old masters, modern abstract art i s ts and Chinese traditional painters, but also hints at the possibilities of cross-cultural communication through art. The gradual development in Chu's works represents his lifelong passion in incorporating the language of Chinese traditional art into the central stream of global modern art, generating a new branch of aesthetic.