PRINTILLUSTRATED:
Solo Exhibition of Chu The-chun, The Ueno Royal Museum (catalogue), Tokyo; Thin Chang Corporation, Taipei, 2007, color illustrated, p. 305
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Lueur de l'horizon (Composition in Blue)
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1998 Oil on canvas 59 x 119 cm Signed lower right CHU TEH-CHUN in Chinese and English and dated 98 |
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Estimate
1,200,000 - 1,800,000 4,920,000 - 7,380,000 160,000 - 240,000
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Sold Price
1,560,000 6,000,000 201,031
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Solo Exhibition of Chu The-chun, The Ueno Royal Museum (catalogue), Tokyo; Thin Chang Corporation, Taipei, 2007, color illustrated, p. 305
Catalogue Note:
"Space in the works of Chu Teh-chun is not presented using traditional perspective; rather, it is what might be called 'manifold space.' The main formal elements in Chu's work are small squares created by filling in rich, thick color between the twisting lines. This method of expression can be thought of as constituting the salient characteristic of Chu's new style. The careful selection of color tone and the precise placement of the small squares in the painting create impressive color variation and light effects. This is not only space, but also structure; this combination of space and structure can be seen in almost every painting by Chu Teh-chun, and is one of the chief features of his work." This perceptive analysis of the artistic style of Chu Teh-chun is by Maurice Panier, the "guardian angel of modern art," who was the first to "discover" Chu Teh-chun.
Taking up the point about space and structure made by Panier, Chu Teh-chun has never allowed himself to be restricted by material space in the composition of his paintings. The structure of the images presented in his works, and his vigorous use of dots and lines, are all the product of careful reflection and rigorous compositional planning; what this creates is a kind of "purposeful" freedom. The crisscrossing of horizontal and vertical lines, the ordered calligraphic lines, and the brilliant utilization of oils - which is at the same time random and controlled - present an immense, all-encompassing visual world, and create on the canvas the boundless reaches of the cosmos.
"Lueur de l'horizon" is one of Chu Teh-chun's works from the 1990s. In this painting, Chu makes use of the color blue, for which he has a particular fondness. He succeeds in using color to create a sense of spatial depth; by employing the color of the night sky, he integrates his own inner world with the wider universe. In this painting, Chu Teh-chun is the explorer of the universe, and the guardian of the deepest recesses of the earth. For him, the universe is full of vitality; at the confluence of spatial and temporal dimensions, the "space" of the universe engenders immense power that is simultaneously mysterious and elusive, deep and remote.