Chu Teh-Chun (Zhu Dequn)

Ravenel, 4 June, 2006, lot 35
Ravenel, Taipei, 6 June, 2010, lot 180
Borobudur Fine Art Auction, Singapore, 9 June, 2012, lot 127
Acquired directly from the above sale by the present owner 

Taipei, Impressions Art Gallery, Chu Teh-Chun: Painting World, June, 2005

Impressions Classics IX: Chu Teh-chun, Impressions Art Gallery, Taipei, 2005, plate 079, p. 116

This work is overall in very good condition. There is a very small paint loss near the lower left extreme turning edge. Under UV light examination, there is no apparent inpainting.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Uncovering Nature’s Secrets:

Chu Teh-Chun’s Power of the Night

‘Chu Teh-Chun neither abandons nor rejects his memories of the East, and instead incorporates them on his canvases in the most appropriate manner. Avoiding the trap of the cultural pastiche, he has found a different but harmonious path. That his works are resonant with so many art lovers is primarily because they combine a profound grounding in Chinese culture, which is effortlessly expressed, with Western abstract painting. After half a century, his abstract paintings have reached a state of utter freedom and uninhibitedness.’

French art critic Gilbert Erouart , excerpt from The Biography of Chu Teh-Chun by Zu Wei

After arriving in France in 1955, Chu Teh-Chun devoted himself to artistic creation. Through abstract painting, he expressed his feelings about living in the West and the spiritual and intellectual inspiration he received from nature. Grounded in Chinese culture, his unique artistic language distills Chinese calligraphy and ink painting into abstract elemental forms. In 1999 Chu was elected to L’Institute de France—the highest honour in the French art world and a firm recognition of his art-historical importance. Major exhibitions of his works followed in France and elsewhere, including a large-scale retrospective in 2000 at the Shanghai Museum and a solo exhibition in 2001 at the Busan Museum of Art. In 2002, the Shanghai Grand Theatre commissioned Chu to create a monumental oil painting, bringing him even greater renown. His art of his period reached a state of virtuosity. As he said, he was able to express his feelings and thoughts without any inhibition. Aux sources de la nuit (Lot 1031) of 2004 dates from this period.

Here Chu Teh-Chun does not immediately reveal to us his intention, but asks us to abandon our intellectual preoccupations in front of the canvas and to enter a sensual and instinctive mode of being. As we let its colours and light lead our minds into an imaginary space, we discover a rich wellspring of ideas and feelings. Absorbed by the monumentality of Aux sources de la nuit, we sense the timeless rhythms of the universe in the artist’s vital brush. Here earth rises in the darkness, silently swallowing everything on the edge of the night. The power of the night motivates the brush strokes and lines, absorbing all illumination until the light source only faintly scintillates in the darkness—a final burst of energy. All these elements constitute a melody of life. Chu Teh-Chun’s abstract painting evokes the enormous energy within the transitional moments in nature, allowing us to glimpse the beautiful mysteries of the universe. The painting is at once an encomium to nature and an imaginary journey into the origins of artistic creation.