PRINTCatalogue Note:
EFFUSIONS HEUREUSES
CHU TEH-CHUN
Chu Teh-chun was born in Jiangsu in 1920. Chu arrived in Paris in 1955 and experienced the city's abundance of contemporary art in person, especially the retrospective exhibition of Nicolas de Staël (1914-1955) at the Musée de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1956. It opened for him another window of free expression. The exhibition, moreover, became the wedge that would open the way to his artistic pinnacle. His early abstract works were filled with dark tones and strong tensions. However, clear color blocks, calligraphic line, and straightforward, solid composition have been the constant characteristics running through his works in different periods. A man of talent still needs a wise headhunter to discover his gift. After Chu entered the Paris art circle, he signed a six-year contract with Galerie Henriette Legendre, which was run by the guardian of modern art, Maurice Panier. The gallery successively introduced him to the world and made him an important member of the School of Paris. Receiving various invitations for exhibitions around the world, Chu enjoyed his success and led a happy life with his family. His style, meanwhile, became even more mature: his smooth brushstrokes and ethereal air surged and swirled with an imposing manner. On his canvas, he perfectly combined the artistic conception and the solid brushwork that are emphasized in Chinese poetry and painting.
At the age of 62, the Musée des Beaux Arts André Malraux in Le Havre, France, hosted his first large retrospective exhibition. Five years later, he returned to Taiwan and held an important retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of History. Effusions heureuses exhibits the sophistication of composition honed by Chu Teh-chun over decades of abstract exploration. With ethereal sweeping strokes of white juxtaposed with opaque forms of darkened hues, the artist has created a sense of depth which recalls the construction of landscape within this composition.
In 1997, Chu was elected as a member of l'Institut des Beaux-Arts de l'Académie Française. After 2000, in his eighties, the master's abundant creativity did not slacken. His free, artistic expression that seemed to be accumulated from past glories once again created a new dimension in abstract painting. Chu, who lives in France for almost sixty years, still maintains his Eastern soul and humanistic spirit. In the European art circle of Lyrical Abstract that flourished after WWII, he was praised for his unique personal style fused with his intrinsic grounding in traditional Chinese art, as well as for his solid painting skill. He is hailed as one of the best Chinese abstract masters in the 20th century.
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)
After having experienced transitions in his abstract style, fame, and glory, Chu Teh-chun became even more comfortable handling his paint brush in the 1990s. Created in 1994, Effusions heureuses gives a transparent sense of space, with scintillating crystal color blocks, a dynamism between light and shadow, and momentum from the flowing air. Within an immense chaos similar to the beginning of the world, the painting leaps across the boundary between the visible and the invisible. The artist fully expresses his ideas through his work and does so with such willful delight. Chu once said that his inspiration comes from nature. He is expert at using dynamic momentum and luxuriant color to express the eternal change of the magnificence of nature.The harmony he achieves in his brush between rhythm and time is simply fascinating.
Since he was well versed in calligraphy. Chu Teh-chun was particularly skilled at using the contrast between light and dark to depict the radiant beauty of light. Effusions heureuses is an outstanding example of this skill. The colors somehow reflect off one another, with the bright radiance flashing between them, creating a vivid beauty that is full of life and energy. The carefully thought-out composition has the light and the colors touching one another, in an apparently chaotic, violent manner, and yet at the same time they combine to form a harmonious, sweeping symphony of perfection. Here, the power of nature is transformed into a dance of light and color which exudes an infectious appeal to the human heart. As the title Effusions heureuses suggests, although the painting may be abstract, what it portrays is the very real pulse of nature that throbs at the universe.
Chu dedicates his life to art. He is focused and committed to art without distraction. Through his paintings, he shares with the viewers his life: the small pieces as well as the important chapters. Even though they are abstract, the surging emotions, powerful concepts, and his spiritual contemplation of the universe over and again lead the viewers to travel into his works and leave feeling deeply touched. The ancient philosopher Lao Tzu once said, The most beautiful sound is soundless; the most beautiful image is without an image. Within and through his works, Chu has expressed exactly this poetic and aesthetic concept to art lovers around the world.
CHU TEH-CHUN
Chu Teh-chun was born in Jiangsu in 1920. Chu arrived in Paris in 1955 and experienced the city's abundance of contemporary art in person, especially the retrospective exhibition of Nicolas de Staël (1914-1955) at the Musée de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1956. It opened for him another window of free expression. The exhibition, moreover, became the wedge that would open the way to his artistic pinnacle. His early abstract works were filled with dark tones and strong tensions. However, clear color blocks, calligraphic line, and straightforward, solid composition have been the constant characteristics running through his works in different periods. A man of talent still needs a wise headhunter to discover his gift. After Chu entered the Paris art circle, he signed a six-year contract with Galerie Henriette Legendre, which was run by the guardian of modern art, Maurice Panier. The gallery successively introduced him to the world and made him an important member of the School of Paris. Receiving various invitations for exhibitions around the world, Chu enjoyed his success and led a happy life with his family. His style, meanwhile, became even more mature: his smooth brushstrokes and ethereal air surged and swirled with an imposing manner. On his canvas, he perfectly combined the artistic conception and the solid brushwork that are emphasized in Chinese poetry and painting.
At the age of 62, the Musée des Beaux Arts André Malraux in Le Havre, France, hosted his first large retrospective exhibition. Five years later, he returned to Taiwan and held an important retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of History. Effusions heureuses exhibits the sophistication of composition honed by Chu Teh-chun over decades of abstract exploration. With ethereal sweeping strokes of white juxtaposed with opaque forms of darkened hues, the artist has created a sense of depth which recalls the construction of landscape within this composition.
In 1997, Chu was elected as a member of l'Institut des Beaux-Arts de l'Académie Française. After 2000, in his eighties, the master's abundant creativity did not slacken. His free, artistic expression that seemed to be accumulated from past glories once again created a new dimension in abstract painting. Chu, who lives in France for almost sixty years, still maintains his Eastern soul and humanistic spirit. In the European art circle of Lyrical Abstract that flourished after WWII, he was praised for his unique personal style fused with his intrinsic grounding in traditional Chinese art, as well as for his solid painting skill. He is hailed as one of the best Chinese abstract masters in the 20th century.
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)
After having experienced transitions in his abstract style, fame, and glory, Chu Teh-chun became even more comfortable handling his paint brush in the 1990s. Created in 1994, Effusions heureuses gives a transparent sense of space, with scintillating crystal color blocks, a dynamism between light and shadow, and momentum from the flowing air. Within an immense chaos similar to the beginning of the world, the painting leaps across the boundary between the visible and the invisible. The artist fully expresses his ideas through his work and does so with such willful delight. Chu once said that his inspiration comes from nature. He is expert at using dynamic momentum and luxuriant color to express the eternal change of the magnificence of nature.The harmony he achieves in his brush between rhythm and time is simply fascinating.
Since he was well versed in calligraphy. Chu Teh-chun was particularly skilled at using the contrast between light and dark to depict the radiant beauty of light. Effusions heureuses is an outstanding example of this skill. The colors somehow reflect off one another, with the bright radiance flashing between them, creating a vivid beauty that is full of life and energy. The carefully thought-out composition has the light and the colors touching one another, in an apparently chaotic, violent manner, and yet at the same time they combine to form a harmonious, sweeping symphony of perfection. Here, the power of nature is transformed into a dance of light and color which exudes an infectious appeal to the human heart. As the title Effusions heureuses suggests, although the painting may be abstract, what it portrays is the very real pulse of nature that throbs at the universe.
Chu dedicates his life to art. He is focused and committed to art without distraction. Through his paintings, he shares with the viewers his life: the small pieces as well as the important chapters. Even though they are abstract, the surging emotions, powerful concepts, and his spiritual contemplation of the universe over and again lead the viewers to travel into his works and leave feeling deeply touched. The ancient philosopher Lao Tzu once said, The most beautiful sound is soundless; the most beautiful image is without an image. Within and through his works, Chu has expressed exactly this poetic and aesthetic concept to art lovers around the world.