CHU TEH-CHUN (1920-2014)

Critically acclaimed for his pioneering fusion of Western abstraction and traditional Chinese ink painting, Chu Teh-Chun is one of the most celebrated Chinese-French painters of our time. Born in 1920 in Jiangsu Province, China, Chu was classically trained in ink and oil painting while at the National School of Fine Art in Hangzhou. In 1955, he left for France to immerse himself in the dominant schools of abstraction, L'art Informel, in Paris. Inspired by Nicolas de Staël, Chu soon deviated from figuration and embraced the infinite possibilities of creating an artistic language in abstraction.

As with his canvases, here Chu’s idiom in his ink drawings, Untitled (Lot 147) and Untitled (Lot 148), is richly lyrical and abstract. Elements of nature have been re-interpreted and simplified through the artist’s mind and brush into free forms of uninhibited, flowing lines and shades of ink washes. The translucent washes and dynamic brushstrokes collide with each other against the empty backdrop. Albeit monochromatic, the layers and contrast create a fluid space that forms a meditative microcosm, elevating and inspiring its beholders. In this sense, the Western-inspired abstraction seen in Chu’s work becomes a vehicle to recapture the intimacy with nature, landscapes and calligraphy that are deeply rooted in Eastern aesthetics and philosophy.