PROVENANCE:
Acquired directly from the artist
Important private collection

Note:
This artwork will be included in the upcoming catalog raisonné of the artist.

This work is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist's wife, Ching-chao Chu.

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 i n 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.