Lot 53
L'ombre s'éclaircit II(Lightening Shadow II)
CHU Teh-chun (Chinese-French, 1920 - 2014)
1988
Oil on canvas
162 x 130 cm
Estimate
TWD 9,800,000-16,000,000
HKD 2,313,000-3,776,300
USD 296,700-484,400
Sold Price
TWD 11,800,000
HKD 2,848,178
USD 365,721
Signature
Titled on the reverse "L'ombre s'éclaircit
II" in French and dated 1988,
signed CHU TEH-CHUN in English and Chinese
EXHIBITED:
Chu Teh-chun, Musée de Salle Georges, Liege, Belgium, November 25 - December 31, 1988
ILLUSTRATED:
Chu Teh-chun, Muséed'Art Moderne de la ville de Liege, Belgium, 1988, color illustrated, p. 22
Chu Teh-chun, Cercle d'Art, Paris, 1993, color illustrated, no. 54, p. 101
+ OVERVIEW
When Chu Teh-chun interviewed by Chu Ko on his painting process, he mentioned: "When I paint, I painted my travel experiences on the canvas. Some of the paintings are about the impulse I couldn't restrain at the time; some of them are about travel memories from long time ago, or even forgotten ones which brought into memory by the canvas. It doesn't matter that whether they are stimulated by the beautiful sights I've seen, or old memories being touched by something inside, as long as I'm in front of the canvas, my sensitivity will rise. As if I'm drinking wine, I will passionately draw my fresh first sip on the canvas. Maybe I'll subsequently paint the second or third paints, but normally I just hang it on the wall, and I look at it from a certain distance, then I paint for the second time, or renew, modify my first paint. In my opinion, as a painter, the first paint determined the destiny of the work, and the genius of the artist. But the second paint tells the experiences of the artist. During my 60 years of painting experiences, I did modify badly on the second paint. This although bothers, but never a waste, it helps me accumulating my experiences, and teaches me how to do it right on the next painting." (Zu Wei, Chu Teh-chun's Biography, Hoke Art INC., Taipei, August 2003, pp. 195-196) Unlike other artists, when Chu commences to paint, he doesn't set a theme or create a scratchy form beforehand, but absolutely free and unrestrained isn't the attitude for such a artist who placed paintings as the most important thing in his life as well, the source of his paintings came from his understandings of nature, he discovered his love for nature, and this stimulates him to paint. When standing in front of the canvas, the artist can no longer hide his feelings, from a viewers point, their private feelings could be encouraged, although there are titled for each of Chu's paintings, however the viewer's can still keep their own way of sensing, to dig, to run in, or even to study it, and what Chu created is an organic environment on the canvas, all the characteristics or ways of thinking could find their place to be released.
"L'ombre s'éclaircit II" was finished in 1988, we can easily discover the lively and broad characteristic of the artist, there are velvet lights coming over from two corners, middle, and above of the picture, unique effects but they are complete mild and exist peacefully and naturally with other blocks in the picture, this is like nature; and these velvet white lights also derive continuous layers of spaces accompanied by colors, turning into dancing-like rhythms, these lines are soft and are dancing in the dark, quietly and harmoniously. The aura on the canvas delivers humanity which Chu embraces, his approach is abstruse but sincere.
Chu lived in many places; his paintings are like himself, mixed with variety of histories, time, societies, and cultures. He was not trying to make one single theory possible, he tried to "possibly" merge all the possibilities of the world into himself, and realize it on the canvas. Unlike Western abstracts, his abstract is not trying abandon concrete, he abstracts the look of the painting, adds Chinese philosophies and painting, literature foundations, therefore no matter it is Eastern or Western, we can all discover the beauty of merged cultures in his paintings. His paintings combine the dimension and architectures of Western paintings and the simplicity and harmony of Eastern paintings, made us more interested in what's inside the picture.
When looking at Chu's paintings one by one, you'll be amazed how he is able to realize thousands of artistic conceptions as if his inspiration never dries. And his paintings from the '80s is the perfect proof of that, with some ages, the artists determined his value with years of experiences, it doesn't matter if he paints his memories, or feelings, because they are closer to his heart, to his state of mind, he and the world are into one, containing vague memories that he longs for.
The 20th & 21st Century Chinese Art, Korean Contemporary Art
Ravenel Autumn Auction 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007, 12:00am