Lot 24
Densité spaciale (Spatial Density)
CHU Teh-chun (Chinese-French, 1920 - 2014)
1998
Oil on canvas
120 x 60 cm
Estimate
TWD 4,800,000-6,500,000
HKD 1,143,000-1,548,000
USD 146,800-198,800
Sold Price
TWD 5,586,000
HKD 1,351,561
USD 172,834
Signature
Signed on the reverse Densité spaciale in French, CHU TEH-CHUN in English and Chinese, dated 1998
ILLUSTRATED:
Pierre Cabanne, Chu Teh-chun, Flammarion Paris, 2000, color illustrated, p.209
+ OVERVIEW
Art critics have employed the term "dream landscapes" to describe Chu Teh-chun's style of painting. Chu's pictures teem with a poetic flavor and a use of color that is at once compact and expressively unrestrained: the soaring lines are like the swift strokes of unrestrained grass-hand calligraphy, displaying both the subtlety and elegance of traditional Eastern art and the dramatic force of thickly applied, dense colors typical for much of Western painting. The overall impression is very reminiscent of the refined pleasures one may derive from Chinese landscape painting and calligraphy. Particularly his most recent work is characterized by an untrammeled boldness of color and form, interspersed with the lively movement of calligraphic lines of varying thickness and "muscle". There is an unspeakable sense of dynamic energy in those lines, invested as they are with fluctuating amounts of exertion in every raising of the wrist, every hook and curve and pause and dot, all executed with a forceful vigor that yet does not come at the cost of a smooth, effortless grace. French contemporary art critic Talbot wrote, "Chu Teh-chun's paintings are natural outflows of the artist's creative urge, trembling with passion and enthusiasm, they are acts of emotional revelation, whispering in quiet undertones of the profound mystery that is life."
Finished in 1998, in "Densit'e spaciale" he used two techniques, one is dots, either big or small, he added water to the ink and make the water permeate through ink; the other is the lines created by using of a Chinese writing brush, it's a contrast to the big and small dots, through ink in different hues and width, he made the whole picture lively and abstractive. Upon first view, they look like mountains, waters, trees and stones, some places even look like flower and fruits, but major abstractive; in other words, many consider there is a gap between Chinese and western paintings, but the gap disappeared in his work, he had built a bridge for Chinese and western traditions.
The 20th & 21st Century Chinese Art
Ravenel Autumn Auction 2006
Sunday, December 3, 2006, 12:00am