ILLUSTRATED:
Chu Teh-Chun, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, 2000, color illustrated, p. 156

This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Dimensions Art Center, Taipei.

Chu Teh-Chun abstract paintings are not just a frame for forms and colors, nor are they just a concerto of shades – they may depict the Earth’s liveliness, a circus of movements, the artist’s deep intellectual reflections, or nature’s emotional impact on Chu. Just as the renowned French commentator Pierre Cabanne once wrote, Abstraction is not the ends, not even a means, but a process. Teh-Chun is not evading nature or rejecting nature’s realism. Rather, he’s expressing nature with a very sensational language that has always lingered in his mind. (Cabanne, Pierre, On Chu Teh-Chun, Solo Exhibition of Chu Teh-chun, Taiwan Rubycon Co., Ueno Royal Museum, 2008, p. 58. Available in Chinese, French, and Japanese, but not English).

As a practitioner of western painting well immersed in Chinese culture, Chu Teh-Chun never limited himself to any single cultural framework. In 1955, he traveled to Europe’s capital of art, Paris, and delved into the essence of western art. In particular, he had a good grasp on making his abstract paintings colorful and rich in layers, characteristic of oil paintings. And yet, he did not forget to blend in such Chinese elements as calligraphy’s sense of tempo and depth. In this way, Chu has carved out a new dimension for western abstract art. Cosmology – or the idea of macrocosms – in the East is not limited to the inaccessible world of gods, nor does it say that humankind is placed higher in hierarchy than all other beings. Rather, human beings are treated as part of nature, and live in sync with their natural environment as well as all other organisms. This sort of macrocosmic view has influenced Chu’s attitude deeply. Therefore, in his creative career, Chu has always started the observation of the outer world from his inner vision, noting the natural rhythms and births and deaths from his heart. Then, with oil as his medium, he depicts humankind and the universe as one of the same kind. In 1997, Chu Teh-Chun became the first ethnic Chinese member of L’Institut de France in 250 years for his excellent achievements in art.

LUMIÈRE À L'HORIZON
CHU TEH-CHUN

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.

He once pointed out that only after his sixties could he be comfortable and skilled enough to create paintings he was satisfied with. Compared to young people, the elderly own the most affluent spiritual resources, with lengthy life experiences and memories. Since the 80’s, I have been painting my own memory and journeying within. said Chu when speaking of his mindset in creation. Memory hides in the depths of the mind. Like lava from the center of the Earth, memory accumulates its energy over time. Although buried in a hidden bottom layer, it is a surging and passionate spiritual core that blazes with an incomparable flame. Facing the canvas, the painter can thus manifest the light of memory inside him, which is also the radiance you and I share. This is why his paintings always touch people’s hearts and stimulate the deepest emotions.

Although inspired by Western abstract expressionist art, Chu has always had a high degree of respect for Chinese landscape painting during the Tang and Song dynasties. He also enjoys reading Tang poetry and Song Ci (a poetic meter) to cultivate his personality. Chu perfectly combines modern abstract painting with poetry, painting and artistic conception, embodying the ancient saying that painting dwells in poetry as poetry exists in painting. He is called the Song painter of the 20th century. Chu holds a habit of listening to classical music when creating his works. Following the rhythm of the musical notes, he expresses a kind of musical element and spirituality on his canvas. The soul–stirring emotion surges and falls just like individual movements in a symphony.

Lumière à l'horizon Chu uses broad, sweeping brushstrokes to create a grey and green background, while the center of the canvas features dark orange, yellow, brown, blue, white patches that sparkle brilliantly. The dynamic orange color patches whirl around amidst taught, twisting lines, create a sense of multiple dimensions. Refusing to be constrained by traditional rules of perspective, Chu has created a work that is alive with the contrasts between light and dark, producing a complex, interleaved composition. This work demonstrates how, by the 1990s, Chu Teh-chun’s shift towards a more abstract style had seen him achieve more freedom and confidence in terms of both his brushwork and his use of color.

Under Chu Teh-chun’s masterly brush, a static painting takes on a sense of speed and dynamism; the contrast between light and shadow takes control of the work,magically transforming the dimensionality of the canvas, so that the misty landscapes are both still and full of movement. Chu makes the constant change of the cosmos and the relationship between man and nature exude a poetic rhythm that gives off a feeling of joy and acceptance, embodying the spiritual awakening that Chu himself felt that nature had given him, and reflecting the comments that Chu once made to the effect that What I paint is both my response to nature and the feeling that nature instills in me. You might go so far as to say that the work is the spiritual crystallization of my relationship with nature. The sudden appearance of light in the canvas seems like the first light of victory after eons of darkness, embodying the rebirth of hope. Lumière à l'horizon can fairly be said to constitute one of the finest masterpieces to take its being from Chu Teh-chun’s lifelong artistic journey of the spirit.