PROVENANCE:

George Chann is one of the most important Chinese abstract expressionist painters in the US, he enrolled in Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles to learn to paint in 1934, during the next five years, and he received full scholarship and acquired a Master degree, and later served in school as an assistant professor. With his brilliant skills when he entered the art scene he was well received by the people in the west coast, his works were also appreciated by the director of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Roland J. McKinney, with McKinney's recommendations Chann started to exhibit in galleries and museums across the America.

Chann's firmly stood in early paintings with realistic style, during that time he painted several paintings that describe the low life in American society, he was one of the representative expressionist painters in the west coast during that time. During the '50s, abstract was in fashion in the American art scene, Chann poured his thoughts into that trend and started to explore abstract expressionism, his years of calligraphy studies has become his breakthrough point in his abstract expressionist paintings, he borrowed the techniques from expressionism with spirits of Chinese Calligraphy, adapted and combined techniques of copy and paste, calligraphy, smearing and implementation, got rid of two dimensional limitations and further created brand new sensational experienced abstract works.

Chann's creations originated from cultural emotions and his torical memories , he is pursuing an intentional cultural construction, with borrowed abstract expressed appearance, added historic essences from Chinese stone calligraphy, bronze cravings, with multiple colors overlapped and lines weaved, he created works that are unique and extraordinary from within.

"Imagery Characters" is Chann's classic work from his abstract period, he used transparent and full compositions, with random moving points, lines and eely forms from the stone cravings, and Chann used the strokes of these imaginary characters and calligraphic lines to present the impromptu abstract.