EXHIBITED:
Chu Teh-chun, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, October 12 - November 10, 2005
Chu Teh-Chun: Paintings, Marlborough Gallery, New York, May 17 - Jun 17, 2006
ILLUSTRATED:
Chu Teh Chun, Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, Shanghai, 2005, color illustrated, pp. 106-107
Pierre-Jean Rémy, Chu Teh-Chun, La Différence, Paris, 2006, color illustrated, pp. 286-287
Solo Exhibition of Chu Teh-Chun, The Ueno Royal Museum (catalogue), Tokyo; Thin Chang Corporation,
Taipei, 2007, color illustrated, pp. 370-371
Catalogue Note:
Paintings of Chu Teh-chun are highly spiritual. The composition of his works is like a great universe. They enhance the imagination of the sense of beauty, sometimes the imagination reaches deep inside. The former French Minister of Culture, Jacques Lang once pointed out that, Chu's works express a feeling of loneliness; a feeling like, you are the only creature in the whole world. This 4 panel work "Force d'âme" was created during 2004-2005. It can be seen as one of the most important works of Chu's late age. We can feel his lively soul in the painting. Chu Teh-chun loves the color blue. There were plenty of blue paintings in the exhibition named "The Recent Works of Chu Teh-chun", curated by Ms. Xiao Xiaolan in 2005. When people saw the paintings from far away, the exhibition venue looked like an ocean. Chu believes that, the most expressive color is blue. It can be used to express the power inside his mind.
Chu Teh-chun was born in Juangsu in 1920. He graduated from Hangzhou National College of Art (the former China Academy of Art) in 1941. His teacher was Lin Fengmian. Lin believed that the point of combining the style of Chinese and Western painting is to emphasis "the expression of form and emotion". This influenced Chu Teh-chun deeply, and influenced him to go to the West to explore the new world. After he went to Paris, he was attracted by abstract paintings immediately. As a result, he started his journey of exploring abstraction. In the beginning, he learned to use a western perspective to observe the environment. For example, he tried to simplify the outside world. Gradually, he realized that the meaning of abstraction is not deduction, or simplification. It should be a positive attitude towards the outside world. After his true understanding of the outside world, he knew he had to get back to Chinese culture to find out the motivation for his creativity. As a result, he changed his style from illustrating the true outside world, to expressing the imagination of Mother Nature.
Since he was well versed in calligraphy, one of the characteristics of his paintings is the use of brush strokes. He remembered the words from ancient painters, saying that the function of a brush is to make things stands out from a chaotic world. His brush has a fluid rhythm, creating beautiful, powerful lines on the paintings. On the other hand, his use of light makes his works look classical. (He said the light in his paintings is inspired by Rembrandt.) His use of light is also influenced by Expressionism. The light decides the arrangement of color and structure in his paintings, it constructs the atmosphere of the images. His fellow artist, Min Xiwen once said, "The light in Chu Teh-chun's works can be seen as the expression of Yin and Yang. It also creates spaces in the paintings. He uses Chinese wisdom to fulfill the physical world."
The Paris Critic, Jean-François Chabrun said Chu Teh-chun is a "Song-Dynasty Painter in the Twentieth Century." It points out the specialty of Chu's paintings as a theory of "Western and Eastern style combined". Min Xiwen believes that, "We can see a new pathway from Chu Teh-chun's Paintings." (References: Min Xiwen, Chu Teh-chun The Famous Abstract Painter, Chu Teh-chun Living in France, A Shining Artistic Career of Art, China Academy of Art Press, April, 1998; Chu Teh-chun, Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, Shanghai, 2005, graphic version, pp. 106-107)
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