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Lot Essay
The techniques and the spirit of traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy deeply influenced the oil work of Chu Teh-Chun. His abstract paintings are intensely calligraphic: quick, agile movements of lines on the painting's surface congeal into suggestions of deep, mysterious landscapes. This is nature directly perceived, apprehended through feeling, and expressed through a romantic spirit, a true reflection of harmony between the painterly gesture and the enfolding cosmos.
A Chu Teh-Chun work is a world apart, a world that lies beyond the confines of time and space, a world newly created and in chaos. A melodic order rules the colours that leap from the canvas, whose boundaries contain intersections of the temporary and the permanent. In a Chu Teh-Chun painting, the scale is at the point of balance: on one side, the weight of traditional Chinese culture and artistic forms; on the other, the pull of 20th-Century painting from Kandinsky to Pollock, and even Mondrian and Franz-Kliene. In his art, positioned as it was between two cultures, Chu Teh-Chun had clearly found his own ideal point of balance.
The most fundamental difference between the painting styles of the East and the West is that the lines produced by the calligraphy brush has always been essential to Chinese painting, whereas in the European tradition, which may have taken line as a starting point, there was a gradual shift toward the objects that the lines set out, meaning a greater attention to light and shadow, mass and weight, and various ways of softening or blurring outlines and reducing the importance of line. The character of Chinese painting lies in the abstracting tendencies of brush and ink through which personality, mood, and conception are expressed; Chinese works possess an architectural dynamic, a musical rhythm, and dance-like gestures. Calligraphy is the backbone of Chinese art; its subject, the mood and sensibility of poetry; and its blank white spaces contain both the implicit and the actual within their world view.
Chu Teh-Chun's abstraction is not the abstraction of symbol or motif, but a lyrical abstraction that radiates the pure feeling of the artist. One can easily imagine mountain landscapes, waterfalls, and gushing springs in the free, evocative spaces of his paintings-the viewer is in communication with the artist, but even more, with nature and the universe. Chu's works have the flow of living energy found in the best of Chinese painting and the appeal of the landscape. Calligraphic lines undergo abstraction, and semi-transparent blocks of color are woven into complex, overlapping structures that convey the limitless space of a Chinese landscape painting. Chu Teh-Chun once acknowledged classical Chinese landscapes as an influence; in particular, he admired the 10th-century painter Fan Kuan and the imposing, poetic atmosphere of his work. The essential feeling of such landscapes is reinterpreted in Chu's work: his modern, abstract works are bridges that reach out to the world where the spirit of the ancient Chinese landscape resides.
The combinative twelve ceramic works by Chu Teh-Chun offered in our day sale (Lots 328 and 329 respectively) are as unique as they are beautiful. Each work is individually and skillfully created, ebbing with the colour, form and brushstroke that is signature of Chu Teh Chun, and here creates the unique character of each ceramic piece. With ceramic as a medium, Chu allows the free-flow of his creative spirit to ebb forth, utlising the pale white of the ceramic base to create a nuancical mergence and complimentary base to the bursts of vivid colour that typify his works. Indeed, upon perusal of this ceramic collection one gains the sense that these are indeed the medium of painting yet placed upon a ceramic base, as Chu has clearly created each work with a different focus and inspiration.
'Le Chaos Vaincu' (Lot 251), as the name suggests, instills Chu's artistic expression of creating harmony by overcoming chaos. The style he evokes throughout his works is a free and spirited release of energy formed by an initial spark of inspiration. Chu allowed his mind and vision to overcome his brushstroke as he imbued his emotion into his art. The concise brushstrokes of 'Le Chaos Vanicu' imply a decisive afterthought of reflective emotion, built as they are upon the more free-flowing background colours of pale blue and white. The central palette emanates a sun-like warmth in the chromacity of yellow, pink and red hues. The contrast between the cooler outer colours and steadily warmer hue create a harmonious balance in tune with physics and the very nature of our universe. Of a similar palette are the works 'Hors de toute forme' (Lot 250) and 'Untitled' (Lot 285), yet here the central warmth of colour is more scattered and the brushstrokes differ. As suggested by the title 'Hors de toute forme', Chu allowed this work to take any form and to evolve a character of its own, as evidenced by the more fervent brushstrokes and collective dark colours. Once again a strong contrast exists between the tone of colour, here the vision imbued is one of light emerging from darkness. 'Untitled' evokes a sense of ebbing beauty and transforming nature, arising from an almost cosmological scene.
In discourse to the title implying green water, 'Fond vert d'eau' (Lot 282) exudes a pale blue and grey palette with highlights of red, yellow and the barest hint of green. This work evokes the flow and ease of water, the calm brushstrokes mirroring the cool serene exerted by gazing across a body of water. To the centre of the work, vivid colours dance amid jagged brushstrokes, reflecting the changeable and often forceful nature of the element.
The dynamics of nature are poignantly expressed in 'Vaincre la terre' (Lot 283). Chu captures the elements of earth and fire in a perfect semblance of brushwork and expression. The impression of stone and an earthly material is instilled by the clever mixture of black and grey, whereby Chu has adopted the very coarse nature of rock as expressed by the linear brushstrokes and terse composition. The changeable nature of fire is centrally created in the myriad of palette, ranging from white to red and deep indigo. Here we gain a sense of an energy that can adopt any form, as the brushstrokes evoke a freedom of swirls, lines and vivid bursts of colour.
'Langage Elucide I' (Lot 286) dialogues the range of linguistic emotion. By the mixture of linear form with circular patches of colour against a rich palette, Chu poignantly emphasises the range and depth of communication. The terminology behind the title of the composition, as well as expressing a coherent and expressive language, also refers to 'emitting light', a notion which Chu was evidently acutely aware as the work presents an array of light forms flowing from and between the darker hues. In contrast to the burst of colour that overwhelms 'Langage Elucide', 'No.275' (Lot 248) presents a deeper and darker perspective into Chu's emotion. The ink on paper that Chu used to create this work evokes a strong appearance of naturalistic shapes, imbuing the swaying flow of a willow tree. In contrast to this ease of artistic energy, the rough, circular formations reverberate a rock-like appearance thus we are presented with two opposing material energies found in nature. Uncharacteristically, Chu has created a work of central darkness thus presenting a unique discordance to the oeuvre of his work.
In the deeply philosophical study 'La Chute de Temps' (Lot 284) Chu questions the very notion of time. His deep ponders are expressed by the vivid depths of azure that evolve throughout the work. The unusual jagged and random brushstrokes that seem to fall to the base of the work instill the unpredictable yet inescapable passing of time. The large, calm swirls of colour that befall the work imbue a sense of the world around us as time streaks quickly over its surface. Hints of yellow, pale green and red pepper the work with a flamboyant air and hint at the unexpected turns and joyful surprises within the evolution of life.
An incredible sense of peace, tranquility and stillness is evoked by 'Paix Nocturne' (Lot 249). Chu has perfectly captured the peace and feeling of rest in the still of night. The deep blue swirls of colour that appear to be closing in on the paler blues and white of the central canvas instill the falling of night and the dark sky ebbing into the day. The strong linear forms within the centre of the work reverberate the often chaotic discourses we experience in our everyday lives, highlighted by the small splashes of red. As such, we gain a sense of the haphazard and troublesome challenges we may encounter ebbing away as the peaceful night descends. Upon viewing this beautiful composition, we gain a sense a peace overcoming and washing over our psyche.
To gaze at a Chu Teh-Chun painting is to embark on a journey, one that will lead you into the imaginative world of the artist through its reflection on the canvas. The style of painting that Chu Teh-Chun developed, a style born from a unique Chinese imagination, was one that would ultimately win the hearts of people all around the world.
A Chu Teh-Chun work is a world apart, a world that lies beyond the confines of time and space, a world newly created and in chaos. A melodic order rules the colours that leap from the canvas, whose boundaries contain intersections of the temporary and the permanent. In a Chu Teh-Chun painting, the scale is at the point of balance: on one side, the weight of traditional Chinese culture and artistic forms; on the other, the pull of 20th-Century painting from Kandinsky to Pollock, and even Mondrian and Franz-Kliene. In his art, positioned as it was between two cultures, Chu Teh-Chun had clearly found his own ideal point of balance.
The most fundamental difference between the painting styles of the East and the West is that the lines produced by the calligraphy brush has always been essential to Chinese painting, whereas in the European tradition, which may have taken line as a starting point, there was a gradual shift toward the objects that the lines set out, meaning a greater attention to light and shadow, mass and weight, and various ways of softening or blurring outlines and reducing the importance of line. The character of Chinese painting lies in the abstracting tendencies of brush and ink through which personality, mood, and conception are expressed; Chinese works possess an architectural dynamic, a musical rhythm, and dance-like gestures. Calligraphy is the backbone of Chinese art; its subject, the mood and sensibility of poetry; and its blank white spaces contain both the implicit and the actual within their world view.
Chu Teh-Chun's abstraction is not the abstraction of symbol or motif, but a lyrical abstraction that radiates the pure feeling of the artist. One can easily imagine mountain landscapes, waterfalls, and gushing springs in the free, evocative spaces of his paintings-the viewer is in communication with the artist, but even more, with nature and the universe. Chu's works have the flow of living energy found in the best of Chinese painting and the appeal of the landscape. Calligraphic lines undergo abstraction, and semi-transparent blocks of color are woven into complex, overlapping structures that convey the limitless space of a Chinese landscape painting. Chu Teh-Chun once acknowledged classical Chinese landscapes as an influence; in particular, he admired the 10th-century painter Fan Kuan and the imposing, poetic atmosphere of his work. The essential feeling of such landscapes is reinterpreted in Chu's work: his modern, abstract works are bridges that reach out to the world where the spirit of the ancient Chinese landscape resides.
The combinative twelve ceramic works by Chu Teh-Chun offered in our day sale (Lots 328 and 329 respectively) are as unique as they are beautiful. Each work is individually and skillfully created, ebbing with the colour, form and brushstroke that is signature of Chu Teh Chun, and here creates the unique character of each ceramic piece. With ceramic as a medium, Chu allows the free-flow of his creative spirit to ebb forth, utlising the pale white of the ceramic base to create a nuancical mergence and complimentary base to the bursts of vivid colour that typify his works. Indeed, upon perusal of this ceramic collection one gains the sense that these are indeed the medium of painting yet placed upon a ceramic base, as Chu has clearly created each work with a different focus and inspiration.
'Le Chaos Vaincu' (Lot 251), as the name suggests, instills Chu's artistic expression of creating harmony by overcoming chaos. The style he evokes throughout his works is a free and spirited release of energy formed by an initial spark of inspiration. Chu allowed his mind and vision to overcome his brushstroke as he imbued his emotion into his art. The concise brushstrokes of 'Le Chaos Vanicu' imply a decisive afterthought of reflective emotion, built as they are upon the more free-flowing background colours of pale blue and white. The central palette emanates a sun-like warmth in the chromacity of yellow, pink and red hues. The contrast between the cooler outer colours and steadily warmer hue create a harmonious balance in tune with physics and the very nature of our universe. Of a similar palette are the works 'Hors de toute forme' (Lot 250) and 'Untitled' (Lot 285), yet here the central warmth of colour is more scattered and the brushstrokes differ. As suggested by the title 'Hors de toute forme', Chu allowed this work to take any form and to evolve a character of its own, as evidenced by the more fervent brushstrokes and collective dark colours. Once again a strong contrast exists between the tone of colour, here the vision imbued is one of light emerging from darkness. 'Untitled' evokes a sense of ebbing beauty and transforming nature, arising from an almost cosmological scene.
In discourse to the title implying green water, 'Fond vert d'eau' (Lot 282) exudes a pale blue and grey palette with highlights of red, yellow and the barest hint of green. This work evokes the flow and ease of water, the calm brushstrokes mirroring the cool serene exerted by gazing across a body of water. To the centre of the work, vivid colours dance amid jagged brushstrokes, reflecting the changeable and often forceful nature of the element.
The dynamics of nature are poignantly expressed in 'Vaincre la terre' (Lot 283). Chu captures the elements of earth and fire in a perfect semblance of brushwork and expression. The impression of stone and an earthly material is instilled by the clever mixture of black and grey, whereby Chu has adopted the very coarse nature of rock as expressed by the linear brushstrokes and terse composition. The changeable nature of fire is centrally created in the myriad of palette, ranging from white to red and deep indigo. Here we gain a sense of an energy that can adopt any form, as the brushstrokes evoke a freedom of swirls, lines and vivid bursts of colour.
'Langage Elucide I' (Lot 286) dialogues the range of linguistic emotion. By the mixture of linear form with circular patches of colour against a rich palette, Chu poignantly emphasises the range and depth of communication. The terminology behind the title of the composition, as well as expressing a coherent and expressive language, also refers to 'emitting light', a notion which Chu was evidently acutely aware as the work presents an array of light forms flowing from and between the darker hues. In contrast to the burst of colour that overwhelms 'Langage Elucide', 'No.275' (Lot 248) presents a deeper and darker perspective into Chu's emotion. The ink on paper that Chu used to create this work evokes a strong appearance of naturalistic shapes, imbuing the swaying flow of a willow tree. In contrast to this ease of artistic energy, the rough, circular formations reverberate a rock-like appearance thus we are presented with two opposing material energies found in nature. Uncharacteristically, Chu has created a work of central darkness thus presenting a unique discordance to the oeuvre of his work.
In the deeply philosophical study 'La Chute de Temps' (Lot 284) Chu questions the very notion of time. His deep ponders are expressed by the vivid depths of azure that evolve throughout the work. The unusual jagged and random brushstrokes that seem to fall to the base of the work instill the unpredictable yet inescapable passing of time. The large, calm swirls of colour that befall the work imbue a sense of the world around us as time streaks quickly over its surface. Hints of yellow, pale green and red pepper the work with a flamboyant air and hint at the unexpected turns and joyful surprises within the evolution of life.
An incredible sense of peace, tranquility and stillness is evoked by 'Paix Nocturne' (Lot 249). Chu has perfectly captured the peace and feeling of rest in the still of night. The deep blue swirls of colour that appear to be closing in on the paler blues and white of the central canvas instill the falling of night and the dark sky ebbing into the day. The strong linear forms within the centre of the work reverberate the often chaotic discourses we experience in our everyday lives, highlighted by the small splashes of red. As such, we gain a sense of the haphazard and troublesome challenges we may encounter ebbing away as the peaceful night descends. Upon viewing this beautiful composition, we gain a sense a peace overcoming and washing over our psyche.
To gaze at a Chu Teh-Chun painting is to embark on a journey, one that will lead you into the imaginative world of the artist through its reflection on the canvas. The style of painting that Chu Teh-Chun developed, a style born from a unique Chinese imagination, was one that would ultimately win the hearts of people all around the world.