PRINTPROVENANCE:
Acquired from the artist by the previous owner, end of 1960s
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Composition No. 166
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1964 Oil on canvas 90 x 146 cm Signed lower right CHU TEH-CHUN in Chinese and English, dated 64 |
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Estimate
34,000,000 - 50,000,000 8,673,000 - 12,755,000 1,116,600 - 1,642,000
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Sold Price
36,000,000 8,955,224 1,156,441
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PROVENANCE:
Acquired from the artist by the previous owner, end of 1960s
Catalogue Note:
When Chu Teh-chun left Taiwan for Paris to develop his career in 1955, his early style was still figurative having drawn several portraits with delicate realistic and factual painting skills. Chu attended the Salon des artistes francais (the Salon for French artists) and was awarded a prize. Soon after, he drew less and less representational paintings becoming absorbed in abstract. His enthusiastic compositions were recognized by artistic commentators. He started to exhibit his abstract paintings in galleries in Paris in 1958, many of them showing interest in his works. Later Chu signed a six-year contract with Galerie Legendre which focused on abstract paintings. Thus, he managed to make ends meet and was able to concentrate on painting. The keen eyed Maurice Panier, artistic director of Galerie Legendre, who arranged a solo exhibition for Kandisky in France, give Chu generous encouragement. He recognized Chu Teh-chun as “un coloriste” (a colorist) of thoughtful composition for oil paintings.
By 1960, Chu Teh-chun had established his reputation in Paris. As a representative of the Far East artists, he entered the international art exhibition of “Ecole de Paris” held by Galerie Charpentier, and his talent was fully recognized in that exhibition. His paintings late in 1950 were full of strength and were painted with calligraphic lines and color patches of red, green, blue and black. The paintings reflect the profound impact on Chu of the abstract painter de Stael. In the 1960s, Chu Teh-chun’s oil paintings were mostly landscapes of single-color background with clouds surrounding mountains and mist around trees. This poetic and artistic scenery conception derives from Chinese mountain-water paintings. Several art critics pointed out that Chu Teh-chun’s paintings were the combination of poetry and scenery. Jean-Francois Chabrun, the poet, writer and art critic, praised Chu Teh-chun as a “ Peintre Song du XXe siecle (20th Century Song Painter)” in “L’Express” in 1960.
Georges Boudaille, former chairman of the Paris Biannual Exhibition, presented Chu Teh-chun’s art in a column in Vol.3 (March) of “Cimaise” in 1963: “…The form is determinedly Western, directly inherited from the experience of the best abstract painters of the Ecole de Paris. But he diverts it from its original purpose. …What properly belongs to him is the discreetly oriental atmosphere pervading his compositions. A subtle, but penetrating scent of poetry develops from the deep harmony between the sight offered and the emotion suggested… Chu Teh-chun remains a professional painter even within the ‘Ecole de Paris’; his craftsmanship and his mastery of the technique have made of him an extraordinary and quite exceptional case amid the trends of present painting…”
The painting “Composition No.166” painted in 1964 was Chu Teh-chun’s 166th abstract painting. Abstract artists usually leave their works without a title to avoid preconceived understandings of their art. They give their compositions numbers or dates of creation. From 1958-59, Chu Teh-chun gave his oil paintings numbers and French names. Then later, he simply omitted titles and replaced them entirely with numbers. Around 1970 he found himself puzzled by so many numbers, so he started to use poetic titles since, after all, poetic verses were also abstract. He believed poetic names wouldn’t obstruct viewers’ freedom of understanding. On the contrary, a good title may help viewers to get closer to the atmosphere which he as a painter had tried to create.
The painting “Composition No. 166” adopts the composition of an ocean view. The light-color-filled and smudged background has the feature and style of Chinese mountain-water paintings. The sweep of the brush horizontally separates the canvas into upper and lower spaces. The overlapped colors form endless mountains; the thin lines constitute rhythms as if a gentle breeze. The painting shows a fascinating landscape of water blending with sky where color patches of red, blue and green add charm to the single dominant color, enriching the hierarchies of the structure of the picture. A change in style of the gallery agency in 1962 brought about a low point for Chu Teh-chun for some years. This is a forgettable period for Chu in Paris. A difficult life and low income, however, never influenced his work as a pure-hearted and clear-minded painter. His paintings in the 1960s were less in quantity, but greatly superior in quality.
By 1960, Chu Teh-chun had established his reputation in Paris. As a representative of the Far East artists, he entered the international art exhibition of “Ecole de Paris” held by Galerie Charpentier, and his talent was fully recognized in that exhibition. His paintings late in 1950 were full of strength and were painted with calligraphic lines and color patches of red, green, blue and black. The paintings reflect the profound impact on Chu of the abstract painter de Stael. In the 1960s, Chu Teh-chun’s oil paintings were mostly landscapes of single-color background with clouds surrounding mountains and mist around trees. This poetic and artistic scenery conception derives from Chinese mountain-water paintings. Several art critics pointed out that Chu Teh-chun’s paintings were the combination of poetry and scenery. Jean-Francois Chabrun, the poet, writer and art critic, praised Chu Teh-chun as a “ Peintre Song du XXe siecle (20th Century Song Painter)” in “L’Express” in 1960.
Georges Boudaille, former chairman of the Paris Biannual Exhibition, presented Chu Teh-chun’s art in a column in Vol.3 (March) of “Cimaise” in 1963: “…The form is determinedly Western, directly inherited from the experience of the best abstract painters of the Ecole de Paris. But he diverts it from its original purpose. …What properly belongs to him is the discreetly oriental atmosphere pervading his compositions. A subtle, but penetrating scent of poetry develops from the deep harmony between the sight offered and the emotion suggested… Chu Teh-chun remains a professional painter even within the ‘Ecole de Paris’; his craftsmanship and his mastery of the technique have made of him an extraordinary and quite exceptional case amid the trends of present painting…”
The painting “Composition No.166” painted in 1964 was Chu Teh-chun’s 166th abstract painting. Abstract artists usually leave their works without a title to avoid preconceived understandings of their art. They give their compositions numbers or dates of creation. From 1958-59, Chu Teh-chun gave his oil paintings numbers and French names. Then later, he simply omitted titles and replaced them entirely with numbers. Around 1970 he found himself puzzled by so many numbers, so he started to use poetic titles since, after all, poetic verses were also abstract. He believed poetic names wouldn’t obstruct viewers’ freedom of understanding. On the contrary, a good title may help viewers to get closer to the atmosphere which he as a painter had tried to create.
The painting “Composition No. 166” adopts the composition of an ocean view. The light-color-filled and smudged background has the feature and style of Chinese mountain-water paintings. The sweep of the brush horizontally separates the canvas into upper and lower spaces. The overlapped colors form endless mountains; the thin lines constitute rhythms as if a gentle breeze. The painting shows a fascinating landscape of water blending with sky where color patches of red, blue and green add charm to the single dominant color, enriching the hierarchies of the structure of the picture. A change in style of the gallery agency in 1962 brought about a low point for Chu Teh-chun for some years. This is a forgettable period for Chu in Paris. A difficult life and low income, however, never influenced his work as a pure-hearted and clear-minded painter. His paintings in the 1960s were less in quantity, but greatly superior in quality.