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144
CHU TEH CHUN (1920-2014)
The item was sold for 11 400 €
Fees include commission and taxes.
CHU TEH CHUN (1920-2014)
Abstraction, 1991
Oil on canvas signed and dated lower right
35 53/64 x 28 47/64 in.
Chu Teh-Chun (1920-2014) was born in Jiangsu province, not far from the banks of the Yangtze River. He came from an erudite family, and learned the art of great traditional Chinese calligraphy. In 1935, he entered the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, a school directed by the artist Lin Fengmian, recently returned from his own studies at the Fine Arts schools in Paris and Dijon. Chu Teh-Chun’s work was highly successful in Taiwan, and he decided to go to France in 1955. The Nicolas de Staël retrospective staged shortly afterwards in 1956 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris was a dazzling revelation for him. Abandoning the figurative painting he had studied in China, he turned resolutely to abstraction, seeing it as a way of reconciling his calligraphic art with the inspiration he had newly found in France. His work developed considerably.
In 1958, he signed a six-year exclusive contract with the Henriette Legendre gallery. This enabled him to focus solely on abstract art, which he continued to explore for the rest of his life. It also led to numerous exhibitions, including abroad, and his career began to flourish in France, China and the United States. Chu Teh-Chun was finally acclaimed by major French institutions. He was first admitted to the Institute as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, where he gave his acceptance speech on 3 December 1999, describing his work as follows: “Though never coinciding, colour and graphics contribute to the same goal: to awaken light, forms and movement.” Between 2007 and 2009, he produced a series of fifty-eight vases for the Sèvres Factory, entitled “De neige, d’or et d’azur” (“Of snow, gold and sky blue”), at the meeting point between the great traditions of French and Chinese porcelain. The work we are presenting today, Abstraction bleue et jaune from 1989, is part of a key period for Chu Teh-Chun. Indeed, his work is the subject of a retrospective in Taipei and then of a travelling exhibition from 1988 to 1989 in Taiwan. This event marks Chu Teh-Chun's return to Taiwan for the first time since his departure in 1955.
The work we present today, tumultuous and lively, carries within it a certain form of singular serenity. The colors, sometimes complementary, sometimes in harmony, mix and clash in a frenzied dance punctuated by curves and counter-curves, flat areas of paint and removals of material. Chu Teh-Chun's sure and precise gesture shines through in the light, supple brushstrokes he employs, a legacy of his passion and mastery of the great Chinese calligraphy that he has never ceased to practice. This collection, which combines color and drawing, testifies to Chu Teh-Chun's virtuosity in bringing his works to life with spontaneity and precision.
Abstraction, 1991
Oil on canvas signed and dated lower right
35 53/64 x 28 47/64 in.
Chu Teh-Chun (1920-2014) was born in Jiangsu province, not far from the banks of the Yangtze River. He came from an erudite family, and learned the art of great traditional Chinese calligraphy. In 1935, he entered the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, a school directed by the artist Lin Fengmian, recently returned from his own studies at the Fine Arts schools in Paris and Dijon. Chu Teh-Chun’s work was highly successful in Taiwan, and he decided to go to France in 1955. The Nicolas de Staël retrospective staged shortly afterwards in 1956 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris was a dazzling revelation for him. Abandoning the figurative painting he had studied in China, he turned resolutely to abstraction, seeing it as a way of reconciling his calligraphic art with the inspiration he had newly found in France. His work developed considerably.
In 1958, he signed a six-year exclusive contract with the Henriette Legendre gallery. This enabled him to focus solely on abstract art, which he continued to explore for the rest of his life. It also led to numerous exhibitions, including abroad, and his career began to flourish in France, China and the United States. Chu Teh-Chun was finally acclaimed by major French institutions. He was first admitted to the Institute as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, where he gave his acceptance speech on 3 December 1999, describing his work as follows: “Though never coinciding, colour and graphics contribute to the same goal: to awaken light, forms and movement.” Between 2007 and 2009, he produced a series of fifty-eight vases for the Sèvres Factory, entitled “De neige, d’or et d’azur” (“Of snow, gold and sky blue”), at the meeting point between the great traditions of French and Chinese porcelain. The work we are presenting today, Abstraction bleue et jaune from 1989, is part of a key period for Chu Teh-Chun. Indeed, his work is the subject of a retrospective in Taipei and then of a travelling exhibition from 1988 to 1989 in Taiwan. This event marks Chu Teh-Chun's return to Taiwan for the first time since his departure in 1955.
The work we present today, tumultuous and lively, carries within it a certain form of singular serenity. The colors, sometimes complementary, sometimes in harmony, mix and clash in a frenzied dance punctuated by curves and counter-curves, flat areas of paint and removals of material. Chu Teh-Chun's sure and precise gesture shines through in the light, supple brushstrokes he employs, a legacy of his passion and mastery of the great Chinese calligraphy that he has never ceased to practice. This collection, which combines color and drawing, testifies to Chu Teh-Chun's virtuosity in bringing his works to life with spontaneity and precision.