Chu Teh Chun - Nature lives with me by Waddington Custot

Chu Teh-Chun

Nature Lives with Me

Chu Teh-Chun Nature Lives with Me

Chu Teh-Chun’s Quest Joachim Pissarro

A most successful and accomplished artist early on in his life, Chu Teh-Chun went on pursuing an even more resounding career in France, never afraid to question and challenge each step of his impressive and extraordinary artistic quest. Never afraid to discard his own previous achievements, constantly challenging himself and his own artistic production, Chu Teh-Chun continued to hone in on becoming an ever stronger artist, going from strength to strength. Having initially absorbed and assimilated the vast differences that characterise Chinese and Western art, Chu developed his work in fresh and new directions that eventually yielded a vigorous, inventive, even surprising ensemble of works that systematically pushed the boundaries: here, today, Waddington Custot displays an essential aspect of Chu’s artistic production – his works on paper, that have seldom yet been on public display. Chu’s lively artistic inquiry required him to pursue continuous, searching innovations, without ever repeating or restricting himself: the format and the media he used in his corpus of works on paper enabled him precisely to reach this goal. In this sense, it is not excessive to say that Chu’s body of works on paper occupies a crucial position within his entire œuvre. In 1955, after a stellar career in Taiwan, he gave up everything he had conquered artistically and left Taiwan for Paris, where he started afresh a wholly new pictorial career from scratch, after having won impressive marks of public recognition while in Taiwan. This courageous decision was the incipient moment in Chu’s career that signalled an artist with a very forceful temperament, a total lack of complacence and a willingness, indeed an abiding drive, to challenge his own practice at all times, even while having won great public acclaim. The art public in Taiwan, after World War II, revelled in Chu’s realistic paintings that were supplemented with historical themes. But Chu was aware that the mainstream aesthetic currents that dominated the Taiwan art scene were notably distant from the leading Paris art trends of that time. Taiwan was far from ready to accept movements such as Fauvism or Cubism – whereas, in Paris, these movements were already part of a distant past. Upon his arrival in France, Chu Teh-Chun was greatly struck by the Paris art scene that he suddenly discovered, and was, in particular, quite moved by a retrospective of Nicolas de Staël at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1956. Although he had already built a whole pictorial career, had refined his considerable skill as a figurative painter and won several awards in French salons, he suddenly decided to give up figurative painting and began anew, a fresh artistic career in abstract painting. After his decision to leave Taiwan, this was the second act of great courage in Chu’s early artistic career. He consciously planned to get rid of the several layers of limitations that had constrained him within his practice as a figurative artist. Instead, he elaborated various layers of freer emotional expression that found shape on canvas by means of a new, fresh, unique abstract pictorial language, which could best be expressed through a paradox: controlled spontaneity. Later on, he gradually abandoned titles for his paintings, thus giving free rein to the development of his imaginary creative forces.

Chu’s experiments with his new artistic language were then further reinforced by his discovery of the rich potential analogies between abstract painting and Chinese traditional ink painting. His interest in calligraphy had begun very early on, at the age of seven. He decided to focus on caoshu, a cursive style of calligraphy, in which the characters are written through one uninterrupted stroke, requiring not only extreme skill, but also a superlative gestural confidence and ease. For him, this style of calligraphy was, indeed, far more liberating than other forms of art. Through his early interest in calligraphy, he had trained his gesture, and it is in the works on paper, on view at Waddington Custot, that his ultimate technical mastery of the medium find their strongest expression. Paper, as he would say himself, allows for no mistakes. Each detail counts: the thickness and the type of paper, the quality of the ink and the quantity of water, the smoothness or the grain of the texture of the surface of a sheet of paper. Everything counts, and, above all, the movement of the hand should be very precisely controlled, while yet, allowing the inner freedom to which the artist was so attached: controlled spontaneity. As in caoshu calligraphy, each brushstroke demands to be instantly correct, requiring the pressure of the artist’s hand to be neither too light, nor too strong, achieving a harmonious whole that could satisfy Chu’s exacting judgment upon his own work. His practice of calligraphy led to compositions in which the twin mediums of ink and oil were let to intertwine freely to reveal strong and vigorous formal rhythms, with a close kinship with both traditional Chinese painting and Chinese poetry. From the tradition of Chinese painting, his works retained an intensity of light contrasts and chromatic hues that soon became a signature through his abstract painting production. As Maurice Panier noted: Chu Teh-Chun’s choices and applications of colours are acute and meticulous. He distributed small squares that reflect, transform and illuminate the canvas. Light transmits from the illuminator that forms the space and structure of the image. This is his major unique characteristic. And, further highlighting his creative process, in relation to light contrasts, the artist himself explained his unique conception of light: Yin and Yang means dark and bright, which actually is light. What I want to express is light. My painting ideology is the integration of heaven, earth and people. Master Chuang said, ‘nature lives with me in symbiosis and everything is with me as a whole.’

Chu Teh-Chun felt convinced that good works emanate and develop from the artist’s insights and innermost feelings about life and the world. Thus, it becomes self-evident that, within what Chu referred to as his artistic ‘ideology’, artist’s selfcultivation is more important than formal skills or attempting to please one’s public – notwithstanding the fact that Chu had trained himself, since his early childhood, to a proficiency in the art of calligraphy. However, ultimately, to Chu’s artistic conception, it became far more important to develop, cultivate, and remain acutely aware of his self, than to hone in on more traditional painting skills, or attempt to please the public. In his own words: ‘Both free-spirit and content are the principles of my creation, and sincerely striving is my constant attitude.’ Once his abstract landscape painting had attracted rave reviews and a roaring reputation, he decided

to temporarily leave Paris, and its rather close and incestuous art scene, and travel around the world in order to increase the gamut of his experiences, and broaden his layers of feelings and responses in front of nature – another act of courage. As he witnessed spectacular aspects of nature, these conjured up in his mind many images of Chinese poetry, in which he retained a keen interest throughout his life. There came out of this re-immersion in poetry, a strong project to create his art in the spirit of, or in analogy, with poetry. Hence, much of the contents of his work suddenly strove towards an even greater sense of harmony and precious freedom, echoing his abiding of the great poetic texts that he deeply admired, such as Wang Wei’s poetry. Chu became the first Chinese member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of France. When describing Chu Teh-Chun’s painting, Wu Guanzhong once said: Chu Teh-Chun’s works are Western paintings when people look at them from a distance because of their structure and distant effects, while his works are Chinese paintings when people look at them closely because of his great attention to the texture of his refining strokes. Chu Teh-Chun believed that only when breaking away from the original forms of Chinese paintings and transforming them into the spirit of Chinese culture, through his own unique and powerful sensibility, could the combination of Chinese and Western painting yield a new plastic and fully resolved artistic language, likely to become more widely accepted and understood globally than either vernacular form of art. Within art, as the present exhibition of Chu Teh-Chun’s works on paper beautifully invites us to verify, there should be no constraint, no limitation, no separation, just integration and fusion.

References Chu, Wei, The Biography of Chu Teh-Chun, Wen Hui Press, 2001 Zhou, Wa, The Biography of Chu Teh-Chun, Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2012

The author wishes to thank Sherry Shao for her precious contribution to the present text.

Oil

Untitled 1970 oil on paper, laid down on canvas 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Untitled 1970 oil on paper, laid down on canvas 19 3/4 × 25 5/8 in / 50 × 65 cm

Untitled 1970 oil on paper, laid down on canvas 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Untitled 1971 oil on paper, laid down on canvas 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Untitled 1972 oil on paper, laid down on canvas 19 3/4 × 25 5/8 in / 50 × 65 cm

Untitled 1973 oil on paper, laid down on canvas 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Gouache

Untitled 1967 gouache on paper 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Untitled 1970 gouache on paper 11 × 10 in / 27.9 × 25.4 cm

Untitled 1978 gouache on paper 19 3/4 × 25 5/8 in / 50 × 65 cm

Untitled 1979 gouache on paper 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Untitled 1981 gouache on paper 19 3/4 × 25 5/8 in / 50 × 65 cm

Untitled 1996 gouache on paper 25 5/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65 × 50 cm

Inspiration hivernale – aquarelle 1987 gouache on paper 22 1/2 × 30 1/8 in / 57 × 76.5 cm

Ink

Untitled 1995 ink on paper 54 × 26 7/8 in / 137.3 × 68.2 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 1/8 × 27 in / 137.5 × 68.5 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 27 in / 137.6 × 68.6 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 1/8 × 27 5/8 in / 137.5 × 70 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 27 in / 137.6 × 68.4 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 × 27 5/8 in / 137 × 70 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 × 26 7/8 in / 137.3 × 68.2 cm

Untitled 1996 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 26 7/8 in / 137.7 × 68.2 cm

Untitled 1997 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 26 7/8 in / 137.7 × 68.2 cm

Untitled 1997 ink on paper 54 1/8 × 27 1/8 in / 137.5 × 68.8 cm

Untitled 1998 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 26 7/8 in / 137.7 × 68.2 cm

Untitled 1999 ink on paper 53 3/4 × 27 3/8 in / 136.3 × 69.5 cm

Untitled 2008 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 27 1/8 in / 137.8 × 68.9 cm

Untitled 2008 ink on paper 54 1/4 × 27 1/8 in / 137.6 × 68.8 cm

Calligraphy

The Fisherman Li Yu (937–978) Wave blossoms for my delight, a thousand sheets of snow; peach blossoms wordless, the regiments of spring: one pot of brew, one pole and line – in this world we live in, how many men like me?

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 16 3/4 × 12 1/4 in / 42.5 × 31 cm

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 16 5/8 × 12 3/8 in / 42 × 31.5 cm

Crows Crying at Night Li Yu (937–978) Silently I climb the western tower, the moon resembles a hook a lonely phoenix tree deep in the courtyard, fresh autumn locked in cut but unbroken, ordered but still chaotic, such is the grief of separation separation is a taste at the tip of one’s heart

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 14 7/8 × 13 1/4 in / 37.7 × 33.5 cm

Sixth Month, 27th Day: Written While Drunk on Lake Prospect Tower Su Shi (1037–1101) Swirled ink of black cloud has not yet covered the hills, jumping pearls of white rain riotously enter the boat. A wind to curl the earth up comes, in an instant blows them away, and under Lake Prospect Tower water seems sky.

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 16 5/8 × 12 1/4 in / 42 × 31 cm

Untitled Ba Jin (1904–2005) New literature makes us change for the better. Kinder, purer, and more useful to others.

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 25 7/8 × 19 3/4 in / 65.5 × 50 cm

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 8 3/4 × 33 3/4 in / 22.2 × 85.7 cm

Observing Waves Su Shi (1037â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1101) Misty rain on Mount Lu and tidal waves of River Zhe Before witnessing them, a thousand regrets could not be extinguished Once in their presence it turns out that there is nothing but Misty rain on Mount Lu and tidal waves of River Zhe

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 9 3/4 × 31 5/8 in / 24.7 × 80.2 cm

Crows Crying at Night Li Yu (937â&#x20AC;&#x201C;978) Silently I climb the western tower, the moon resembles a hook a lonely phoenix tree deep in the courtyard, fresh autumn locked in cut but unbroken, ordered but still chaotic, such is the grief of separation separation is a taste at the tip of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 8 × 33 in / 20.2 × 83.9 cm

Sumuzhe Dancers Fan Zhongyan (989â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1052) Blue cloud sky Yellow leaf ground Autumnal waves Under cold blue mist. Hills catch the setting sun, sky and water merge. Unfeeling, fragrant grasses grow On and on past the setting sun

Untitled Yang Shen (1488–1559) The rolling Yangtze river flows east The foaming of the waves washes away heroes Right and wrong, victories and defeats, vanish as we look back Only the verdant mountains remain as ever How many years spent reddened by the setting sun White-haired fishermen and wood-cutters on the river islets Used to watching the autumn moon and spring wind Happily met with a jug of unfiltered rice wine Many matters old and new are laughed over

Untitled 2008 China ink on Kraft paper 31 1/2 × 29 3/8 in / 80 × 74.5 cm

Biography

1920

Born 24 October, Baitu, Jiangsu, China

1935

Attends National Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China. He is taught traditional ink painting by Pan Tianshou and oil painting by Wu Dayu. Lin Fengmian is the principal of the academy during this time

1937 –45

Outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War on 7 July forces the art academy to relocate to Nanjing

Chu helps to design propaganda posters and murals protesting against the Japanese invasion

During the war, the Academy continues to move further inland to Yunnan, merging with the Beijing National School of Fine Arts, eventually settling in Chongqing, Sichuan

In Kunming, Yunnan, the lifestyle of the Miao people and the local horses inspire many drawings, since lost

1945–48

105

Becomes Professor of Architecture at National Central University in Nanjing, which temporarily moves to Chongqing, Sichuan, during the war

Marries Liu Hanfu; together they leave Nanjing and, via Shanghai, arrive in Taiwan in December 1948

1949

Daughter, Kate, born

Teaches architecture at National China Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan

1952

Meets Tung Ching-Chao, whom he later marries

1953

Receives commission from National History Museum of Taiwan to make a series of paintings on the theme of ‘The History of China Since the Revolution of Sun Yat-Sen in 1911’, still part of the museum’s collection

1954

Visits the Ali mountain range in Chiayi, Taiwan, and as a result makes several landscape paintings, which are shown at his first solo exhibition at Zhongshan Tang, Taipei

1955

On 29 March, sets sail for Europe via Hong Kong, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Egypt, landing at Marseille and eventually settling in Paris

Attends Académie de la Grande Chaumière and makes extensive visits to the Louvre, art galleries and exhibitions

1956

Visits the Prado, Madrid, deeply impressed by the works of Goya; travels to Toledo to see the works of El Greco

106

Visits Nicolas de Staël exhibition at the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, which leaves a lasting impression, causing him to meditate on abstract forms of expression

Awarded the Silver Medal at the Paris Salon for a portrait of his wife to-be, Tung Ching-Chao

1958

Solo exhibition at Legendre Gallery, Paris, and is offered an exclusive contract for six years

1959

Moves to a studio in Ménilmontant, Paris

1960

Marries Chu Ching-Chao (née Tung)

1961

Son, Yi-Hwa, born

1965

Whilst exhibiting at Latzer Gallery, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, a flight over the Alps inspires a new series of paintings

1968

Son, Yvon, born

1969

Moves to Thiais on the outskirts of Paris

Exhibits at X Bienial de São Paulo; an entire room is dedicated to his work with an accompanying catalogue prefaced by Hubert Juin

Visits Rembrandt’s three hundredth anniversary exhibit in Amsterdam, which has a profound impression on him

1972

Moves to two-floor maisonette in Bagnolet

Signs a four year contract with Galerie Soleil, Paris, directed by Georges Bongers

1980

Acquires French citizenship

1982

Retrospective at André Malraux Museum, Le Havre; catalogue preface is written by Michel Chapuis, and the exhibition is covered by art critic and historian Gérard Xuriguera in the Cimaise review

1983

Invited by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Fine Arts department to be an external examiner

Visits China for the first time since leaving in 1955, accompanied by painter Ladislas Kijno and Chu Ching-Chao; tours Beijing, Datong, Xi’an, Huang Shan (the Yellow Mountains), ending his journey in Hangzhou

1985

Becomes a permanent member of the Salon d’Automne, Paris

107

Invited, as an external examiner, to mark student examinations at Chinese University of Hong Kong for the second time

1987

Retrospective at Taipei Museum of Natural History, Taiwan

1988

Colóquio Artes magazine publishes a lengthy article on Chu, written by JeanClarence Lambert, entitled ‘Les Dépaysages de Chu Teh-Chun, une poétique de l’espace’

1989

Invited to exhibit at 40ème Salon de la Jeune Peinture, Grand Palais, Paris

1990

Moves to Vitry

Pierre Cabanne publishes a review of Chu’s work in Cimaise, in conjunction with his exhibit at Pernod Pyramide, Créteil, shown by Sylvie Lanel Gallery

1991

Visits Venice for the first time, studying the works of Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese and Carpaccio, among others

1992

Completes a large lithograph entitled ‘Olympic Centennial’ for the centennial of the Olympic Games

1993

Cercle d’Art Editions publishes a comprehensive monograph edited by Pierre Cabanne

1994

Visits China with his family and Albert and Henriette Féraud in April, returns to his hometown for the first time and visits his parent’s tomb

A conference on modern painting is held in his honour in Beijing, attended by Wu Guanzhong

Visits the famous Dunhuang grottoes, Gansu

Visits Quebec, Canada, in May for the opening of the exhibition Signes Premiers, showing alongside Jean-Paul Riopelle and Ladislas Kijno at the Palais Montcalm, Quebec; the exhibition tours Canada for two years

Illustrates the poems of Lebanese poet Salah Stétié, published in vol.III of Rémanences arts review

1996

Rests from work following medical surgery

1997

Becomes the first member of Chinese ethnicity at Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris

1998

Travels to Shanghai to visit the director of the Shanghai Museum in May. Tours to Taipei where during his stay he paints a series of large ceramic dishes at specialist workshop, Yingge, near Taipei

Visits the workshop of Alexander Calder in Saché, near Tours, who he greatly admires. Visits Bilbao Guggenheim Museum and then revisits the Prado Museum in Madrid to see Goya’s paintings

108

Jury president of the Prix Château Haut-Gléon, Durban-Corbières, for young painters

1999

On 3 February, invited to become a lifelong member of the Institut de France

Travels to Beijing to attend an exhibition marking the eightieth birthday of contemporary artist Wu Guanzhong, an old school friend

2000

Retrospective exhibition at Shanghai Museum of Art in September; accompanying catalogue includes a forward by the Ambassador of France, Pierre Morel, with texts by Pierre Cabanne and Pascal Bonafoux

Two monographs, one by Pierre Cabanne and the other by Pierre Restagny published

2001

Awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the President of the Republic

2002

Embarks on a monumental painting for the Shanghai Opera, following the recent architectural work of Jean-Marie Charpentier, which is completed the following year

2003

Exhibits, alongside Albert Féraud, at the Chinese Cultural Center of Paris in celebration of the Year of China in France; entitled The Meeting of Two Grand Artists, Chu Teh-Chun and Albert Féraud

2006

Awarded European Gold Medal of Merit by the European Commission

Monograph with text by Pierre-Jean Rémy published in French and English by Éditions de la Différence, Paris

2008

Retrospective at National Museum of History of Taipei, Taiwan, in collaboration with the Thin Chang Corporation

2010

Retrospective at National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing

2014

Dies 26 March in Paris, France

Selected solo exhibitions

109

1954

Zhongshan Tang, Taipei, Taiwan

1958

Galerie du Haut Pavé, Paris Galerie Legendre, Paris Galerie de Beaune, Paris

1960

Galerie Legendre, Paris

1962

Galerie Legendre, Paris Galerie Baier, Mainz, Germany Donner à voir, Galerie Creuze, Paris

1963

Galerie Legendre, Paris

1965

Galerie de l’Université, Paris Galerie Latzer, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland Art au Village, Saint-Jeoire-en-Faucigny, France

1967

Galerie Räber, Lucerne, Switzerland Galerie de l’Université, Paris Galerie l’Art et la Vie, Lyon Galerie Latzer, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland

1969

Galerie Roger Le Grall, Paris Galerie Henri Grégoire, Marseille X Bienial de São Paulo, São Paulo

1970

Galerie Royal Luxembourg, Nice

1972

Galerìa Mikeldi, Bilbao Galerie Die Dritte Welt, Munich

1973

Galerie Horn, Luxembourg

1974

Galerie du Soleil (Royal Luxembourg), Paris

1975

Galerie Sagittaire, Annemasse, France

1977

Galerìa Mikeldi, Bilbao

1978

Galleria San Carlo, Naples Rétrospective, Maison de la culture et des loisirs de Saint-Étienne, France

1979

Galerie Suillerot, Paris Musée de Poche, Paris Galerie France, Bordeaux

1982

110

Maison de la Culture de Loire-Atlantique, Nantes Peintures et dessins de 1955 à 1982, Musée des Beaux-Arts André Malraux, Le Havre, France

1983

Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg

1984

Théâtre Municipal de la Ville d’Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

1985

Maison des Arts et Loisirs de Sochaux, France Galerie Bellint, Paris Centre Culturel Municipal de Gentilly, France

1986

The Hong Kong Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture, Hong Kong Galerie Bernard Jagot, Saint-Nazaire, France Galerie de Bellecour, Lyon Centre d’Arts et Loisirs Privas, France

1987

Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan Lung Men Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan King Ling Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Galerie Triform, Taipei, Taiwan

1988

Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Galerie Septentrion, Marcq-en-Barœul, France Galerie Régis Dorval, Le Touquet, France Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain de la Ville de Liège, Belgium National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan

1989

Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Paris Galerie Artlo, Toulouse Galerie Gabrielle, Strasbourg Galerie Sylvie Lanel, Honfleur, France

1990

Galerie Hélène Trintignan, Montpellier, France Pyramide Pernod, Créteil, France Galerie Régis Dorval, Le Touquet, France Galerie de Bellecour, Lyon

1991

Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Musée d’Art Contemporain de Dunkerque, Dunkirk Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris

1992

Signes premiers, Palais Montcalm, Quebec, Canada Oeuvres des années 60, Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Paris Art Bärtschi Compagnie, Galerie du Château, Geneva Galerie Pierre, Taichung, Taiwan

1993

Galerie Régis Dorval, Le Touquet, France Galerie Protée, Toulouse Dimensions Art Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan Dimensions Art Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

1994

Galerie Municipale de Vitry-sur-Seine, France Musée amérindien de Pointe Bleue, Quebec, Canada; touring to Musée d’Art de Joliette, Quebec, Canada; Maison de la Culture Mercier, Montreal, Canada Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris Treasure Singapore 1994, Soo Bin Art Gallery, Singapore Dimensions Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan Dimensions Art Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan Dimensions Art Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Treffpunkt Kunst, Museum Haus Ludwig, Sarrelouis, Germany

1995

Signes premiers, Gallery Stratford, Stratford, Canada Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada Galerie Régis Dorval, Le Touquet, France

1997

The Palace Museum, Beijing, China (organised by the French Association for Artistic Action); touring to Museum of Art, Hong Kong; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan Galerie Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Bouquinerie de L’Institut, Paris

1998

Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris Ecstatic Depths: Recent Paintings 1986–1996, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan Château Haut-Gléon, Durban-Corbières, France Important Works of Chu Teh-Chun: the 50’s, New Vision Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan Palais des Consuls, Rouen, France Galerie Espace 061, Art Contemporain, Rouen, France

1999

Chu Teh-Chun: Poetry and Music, Galerie Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Villa Tamaris centre d’art, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France Chu Teh-Chun: Recent Works, Galerie Milstain, Brussels

2000

Chu Teh-Chun: Peintures, Hôtel de Ville de Sochaux, France Chu Teh-Chun: Paintings, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai

2001

Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China (organised by the French Association for Artistic Action); touring to Pusan Metropolitan Museum, Korea Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris Galerie municipale d’Arcueil, Paris

111

2002

Galerie Darga, Bali, Indonesia Angel Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

2003

Exposition de peintures sur céramique, Galerie de la Bouquinerie de L’Institut, Paris Symphonie festive, Palais Garnier, Paris Shanghai Opera House, Shanghai Listen to the Universe, Jing Yi University, Taichung, Taiwan Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris

2004 2005

Chu Teh-Chun, peintre, Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France Chu Teh-Chun, Impressions Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan La Nature transfigurée, Musée de Guéthary, France Dialogue avec Kinjo, Fête de l’Humanité, parc paysager de La Courneuve, France Galerie J Bastien Art, Brussels Chu Teh-Chun, Recent Works, Shanghai Museum of Fine Arts, Shanghai Arsenal de Metz, France

2006

Chu Teh-Chun: Paintings, Marlborough Gallery, New York Inks on Paper, Galerie Frank Pages, Baden-Baden, Germany Multiples, Galerie J Bastien Art, Brussels Récentes Peintures, Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris Peintures à l’huile, Galerie J Bastien Art, Brussels

2007

Chu Teh-Chun: Pintura reciente, Marlborough Madrid, Madrid Chu Teh-Chun, Thin Chang Corporation, The Royal Ueno Museum, Tokyo

2008

Retrospective, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan Chu Teh-Chun: Works on Paper, Marlborough Gallery, New York

2009

Recent paintings and works on paper, Marlborough Gallery, London De neige d’or et d’azur, Musée Guimet, Paris The Sound of the Universe, Suzhou Museum, China

2010

Retrospective, National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing Macao Museum of Art, Macao, China

2011

Process and Transformation, FEAST Projects, Hong Kong

112

Chu Teh-Chun, paysagisme des songes, La Malmaison, Cannes; touring to Espace Miramar, Cannes; Villa Domergue, Cannes Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Le Moulin de Lambouray, Jouy, France Galerie Atrium, UBS, Geneva Galerie Atrium, UBS, Zurich

113

2012

Nature in Abstraction, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong

2013

Les chemins de l’abstraction, Pinacothèque de Paris, Paris Colours/Forms: Chu Teh-Chun, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan

2014

Marlborough Gallery, New York

2015

Amours Océanes, Fondation Monticelli, Marseille

2016

Be Inspired in Central, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong

2017

Waddington Custot, London

Selected group exhibitions

114

1945

Contemporary Art, Chongqing, China Independent Artists, Chongqing, China

1950

Zhongshan Tang, Taipei

1956

Salon des Artistes Français, Paris La peinture d’aujourd’hui, Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris

1957

Salon des Artistes Français, Paris

1958

Painters of the School of Paris, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen Galerie Legendre, Paris

1959

Galerie Birch, Copenhagen Galerie Legendre, Paris

1960

École de Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Paris Expressions d’aujourd’hui: peinture et musique, Château de Lunéville, France

1961

Salon de Mai, Paris

1962

Donner à voir, Galerie Creuze, Paris

1963

L’Oeil de boeuf, Galerie 7, Paris La Boîte et son contenu, Galerie Legendre, Paris Artisti cinesi contemporanei, Galleria San Fedele, Milan

1964

Bineth Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel 50 Young Painters from the New School in Paris, Merlin Gallery, Athens Les jours de la culture chinoise, Maison Internationale de la Cité Universitaire de Paris Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh

1965

Château Grimaldi à Antibes, France Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels

1966

Petits Formats, Galerie Cimaise-Bonaparte, Paris Mairie de Boëge, France Art au Village, Saint-Jeoire-en-Faucigny, France Galerie de l’Université, Paris Galerie Räber, Lucerne, Switzerland

1967

Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh Mairie d’Asnières, France Majudtillengen, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen Galerie 7, Paris

1968

Paul Gay et ses amis, Château d’Annecy, Annecy, France

1970

Présence européenne, Galerie Vercamer, Paris Europa Publicis, Galerie Symposion der Kunst, Mannheim, Germany

1971

6th Fine Arts Exhibition of the Republic of China, National Taiwan Art Center, Taiwan

1972

Galerie Die Dritte Welt, Munich

1973

Studio Publicis par la société Cerdap, Paris La Galerie Flottante, Paris

1974

1 dessin, 1 peinture + 1 regard sur le passé, Galerie de l’Université, Paris Galerie Räber, Lucerne, Switzerland Galerie Atelier Mensch, Hamburg

1975

Les Artistes et l’année internationale de la femme, UNESCO, Paris Hommage à Arp et Magnelli, Centre culturel Noroît, Arras, France Galerie du Soleil, Paris L’art contemporain, Mairie de Boëge, France Quinzaine sur l’Espagne, Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Cannes Hommage à Deyrolle, Galerie Cimaise, Bourg-en-Bresse, France

1976

Vingt peintres contemporains, Centre Culturel Léonard de Vinci de l’ENAC, Toulouse Mythologie de l’image contemporaine, Centre régional d’art contemporain, Château du Tremblay, Fontenoy-en-Puisaye, France Formes et Couleurs, 2ème événement artistique dans la ville, Billom, France

1977

L’art contemporain, Hôtel de Ville de Dunkerque, Dunkirk Galleria Antiope, Sorrento, Italy Centro culturale dell’arte contemporanea, Torre Annunziata, Italy Galerie Paul Bruck, Luxembourg

1978

Le Geste interieur, Maison des Jeunes et de la culture, Les Hauts de Belleville, Paris Les Huns, Fondation nationale des arts graphiques et plastiques, Paris I.F.I.A.M, Foggia, Italy 25ème anniversaire de la Galerie du Haut Pavé, F.N.A.C.P, Paris L’Art contemporain, Hôtel de Ville de Dunkerque, Dunkirk 25 artistes sélectionnés à l’École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France

1979

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1ère Biennale d’art contemporain, Brest, France Peintres et sculpteurs contemporains, Mairie annexe du 3ème arrondissement, Paris Aujourd’hui – Demain, Galerie France, Bordeaux Le Dragon et le Chrysanthème, Summit Art Center, New Jersey

1980

Overseas Chinese Artists, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan Salon Éclaté, Paris 3ème salon de Création artistique, Bourg-en-Bresse, France 120 artistes pour Bierville, Paris Galerie Arts et Lettres, Saint-Nazaire, France Galerie Syn’Art, Paris

1981

Huit Artistes d’aujourd’hui, Collège Jean-Moulin, Les Andelys, Paris Musée Bertrand, Châteauroux 60 Artistes pour un Musée, Centre culturel du Mexique, Paris

1982

The Chinese Response-Painting by Leading Overseas Artists, Hong Kong Museum of Art Paris 1959 Lyrische Abtraktion, Galerie Koppelmann, Roggendorf, Cologne 35 peintres et sculpteurs étrangers résidant à Paris, Maison des jeunes et de la culture, Les Hauts de Belleville, Paris Abstractions, Maison des Princes de Pérouges, Rhône-Alpes, France Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg L’Art et la Mode, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris Palettes de peintures de 1900 à nos jours, Galerie La Pochade, Paris

116

1983

Tendances de la peinture abstraite, Centre culturel de Lavilledieu, France; touring to Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Les Hauts de Belleville, Paris; Centre culturel, Saumur; Forum des Cholettes, Sarcelles; Centre culturel Pierre Bayle, Besançon

1984

7ème Festival de poésie murale, Château des Stuart, Aubigny-sur-Nère, Cher, France Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg

1985

Aspects de l’Art en France de 1950 à 1980, Musée Ingres, Montauban, France Galerie de la Cimaise, Besançon, France Maîtres des Années 50, Galerie de Bellecour, Lyon, France Sélection II, Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg 5 Abstraits en 1985, Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva Gallerie Suzanne Pons, Cannes, France

1986

Panorama de l’art contemporain, Centre des arts et loisirs du Vésinet, France L’Art contemporain, Fondation Cartier, Paris ARCREA 86, Fondation Henry Clews, Mandelieu-La Napoule, France Galerie de la Cimaise, Besançon, France Abstraction-Figuration, Galerie 5, Fontainebleau Art contemporain, Hôtel de la Pompadour, Versailles Art moderne, Maison Alexandre-Dumas, Marly-de-Roi, France Cent peintres en France, Parc George-Valbon, La Courneuve, France Galerie Hélène Trintignan, Montpellier, France

1987 1988

1989

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Panorama de l’École française contemporaine, Institut Français, Tel-Aviv, Israel L’abstraction lyrique, Espace Belleville, Paris Papiers, Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Paris Galerie Suzanne Pons, Cannes, France Le dessin, le pastel, l’aquarelle aujourd’hui, Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Les Hauts de Belleville, Paris L’Art pour la vie, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris Rétrospective de sept peintres chinois venus à Paris entre 1913 et 1960, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan Inventaire 1950–1968 Peintres et Sculpteurs, Villa du Parc, Annemasse, France Aspect de l’art abstrait des années 50, Pyramide Pernod, Créteil, France Impression d’artistes, 40 artistes contemporains à La Grange du Roy, Mandres-les-Roses, France Salon d’Octobre de Brive, Mairie de Brive, Brive-la-Gaillarde, France Exposition de l’Arthothèque, Château de Blois, France Le Drapeau national dans la peinture, Fête de l’Humanité, Parc George Valbon, La Courneuve, France

Les paysages dans l’art contemporain, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris Galerie Graça, Barcelona

1990

Salon de Mai, Paris Abstraction I, Galerie Samagra, Paris Galerie Point Rouge, Paris Couleurs de la vie, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Galerie Mansart, Paris Au-delà des Frontières, Galerie Horizon, Marseille

1992

Vingt ans d’arts plastiques, Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Les Hauts de Belleville, Paris La Règne Imaginaire, La Galerie, Paris

2003

À la Rencontre de Deux Grands Artistes, Centre Culturel de Chine, Paris

2013

Summer Gallery Selection, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong Abstract Paintings, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong

2014

Pioneers of Modern Chinese Painting in Paris, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong

2015

Chinese Abstraction in Paris, Aktis Gallery, London Zao – Chu – Hsiao, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong

2016

Paper as a Support in Abstract Post-War, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong Asian and European Post-War Masters: From Soulages to Zao Wou-Ki, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong

Selected public collections Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris Collection Ville de Vitry-sur-Seine, France Fonds départemental d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France Fonds national d’art contemporain, Paris Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China Lieu d’Art et Action Contemporaine de Dunkerque, France Maison de la Culture de la Société des Eaux, Marseille Mairie de Sochaux, France Monastère royal de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, France Musée Cernuschi, Paris Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud, Perpignan, France Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain de la Ville de Liège, Belgium Musée d’art moderne André Malraux, Le Havre, France Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Musée d’art Pierrefeu, Nice, France Musée Hôtel-Bertrand, Châteauroux, France National Library of Colombia, Bogota National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan Présidence de la Confédération française démocratique du travail, Paris Shanghai Museum of Fine Arts, Shanghai Shanghai Opera House, Shanghai Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

118

Chu Teh-Chun Nature Lives with Me 19 September – 4 November 2017 Waddington Custot 11 Cork Street London W1S 3LT +44 (0)20 7851 2200 mail@waddingtoncustot.com waddingtoncustot.com Monday to Friday 10am–6pm Saturday 10am–4pm All artworks © Fondation Chu Teh-Chun p 5 © Jeff Hargrove pp 99–103 © Jérôme Huffer/Paris Match Calligraphy translations: p 78, 80 Translation by Burton Watson The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early times to the Thirteenth Century, New York: Columbia University Press, 1984 p 84 Translation by Angus Charles Graham Poems of the West Lake: Translations from the Chinese, London: Wellsweep, 1990 p 93 Translation by James Robert Hightower Victor H. Mair (ed), The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, New York: Columbia University Press, 1994 All other translations by Miranda Chance Published by Waddington Custot Co-ordinated by Roxana Afshar and Jessica Ramsay Designed by Mark El-khatib Print production by Paul McGuinness Printed by Die Keure Waddington Custot, 2017 ISBN 978-0-9955490-4-3

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