EXHIBITED:

ILLUSTRATED:

Chinese abstract paintings are mostly contributed by oversea Chinese painters. Kandinsky first brought up the theory of abstract painting back in the beginning of 20th century, and completed the first abstract painting in the history. But undoubtedly, the eastern traditional is closer to the essence of abstract paintings, Chinese characters and calligraphy adequately enriched the expression of abstract paintings. Abstract Expressionism was fashionable in the mid 20th century; it brought paintings into a new boundary, there were many masters of art had admitted the influence of eastern calligraphy and philosophy on their works. The frontiers of Chinese abstract paintings include Zao Wou-ki, Chu Teh-chun in France, and surely older-aged George Chann in the United States. The beauty of traditional Chinese characters in their forms had given them certain inspirations. Zao Wou-ki and George Chann at first acquired inspirations from inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells and stone tables, George Chann particularly implanted the collage element, which added the glamour of the history and civilization into the painting.

George Chann's "Stone Tablet Variation" is from his early black and white collection, its applies the vertical structure of bamboo slips and stone rubbings, there is a icon of a Chinese bell in the lower left corner of the painting that sets off a strong Chinese style. After he opened an antique shop in 1952, the artist spent the rest of his lives with Chinese antiquities and kept his creations going. He not only studied the glorious history of Chinese, but also discovered the emotions lie within its culture. The arrangement of the background is like a ancient Chinese cooking vessel or a bell, the artist wasn't intended to present the meaning of the text on the stone tablet, what he emphasized is the mysteries lie within the lines, and the forming abstract musicality.