Oil on canvas

81 × 65 cm. 31 7/8 × 25 5/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and English on bottom left; signed in Chinese and English, dated and titled in French on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Paris
28 Nov 2015, Christie’s Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 17
Acquired directly by present important private Asian collector from the above

Note: This work will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné being co-edited by Foundation Chu Teh-Chun and Mrs. Ching-Chao Chu

Replete with Majesty, Timely Snow Heralds a Good Harvest
Surging Brilliance of Chu Teh-Chun’s Epic Snow Scene

In 1955 while in France, Chu Teh-Chun attended a retrospective exhibition of work by French painter Nicolas de Staël and the experience introduced him to the world of abstract art. In 1969, Chu visited a major exhibition to commemorate the death of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn which provided him with a completely new understanding of classical light and shade technique, allowing the artist to make a breakthrough in his own creative work. In the 1980s, Chu went on a grand tour of mountains and rivers, as a result of which he experienced a clash of passions and reflected on life. Thereafter, he ultimately refined Eastern calligraphy, Western colours, musical rhythms and imaginings of nature into "transcendent landscape paintings," creating his own uniquely brilliant language.

Strokes of Genius, Extremely Rare Snow Scene Series Painting

"I have painted several white-toned paintings. When I was on a trip to Geneva, I saw the Alps covered with white snow and permeating white clouds. When the clearly defined white layers of snow and clouds filled with change, my heart only held the scene of the clouds hovering over the white ground along with the emerging layers. My mind seemed to follow the depth and shades of the changes, and suddenly, the image of many Tang poems materialized."
——Chu Teh-Chun

Although Chu Teh-Chun achieved much in his artistic career, arguably the most poetic, unique and representative works he ever produced were those in his majestic Snow Scene Series. The golden age for these paintings was 1985-1990, with Chu focusing on scenes of dynamic snowdrops, while employing clear layers of white clouds and white frost/snow to craft an artistic poetry of extraordinary depth.

If we look at Chu Teh-Chun’s creative career, his snow scene works are surpassingly beautiful and eye-catching, but also relatively few in number, making them hard to find on the market. Currently, of all the artist’s works sold at auction around the world, two of the top three prices were for paintings from the Snow Scene series, an indication of the high esteem in which these pieces are held in the art world. However, with only a few exceptions after the turn of the century, most of the paintings that make up this series were completed from 1985-1990. Indeed, Chu produced fewer than 60 works in the Snow Scene Series throughout his career and these undoubtedly constitute some of his greatest artist accomplishments, making them an invaluable addition to the collection of any Chu Teh-Chun fan. The inclusion of Synthèse Hivernale in the spring auction, takes the classical beauty of turquoise green as its main focus, combining the undulating mountain rocks, glistening glaciers and white snow dancing in the air in a symphony wherein "timely snow heralds a good harvest," an exquisite and rare example of the ineffable spirit that imbues the artist’s snow scene motif paintings.

An Artistic Masterpiece with Heart and Mind in Perfect Unison

The origins of the Snow Scene series can be traced back to 1965, when Chu Teh-Chun was travelling around France and climbed Mont Blanc in Savoie Department. From the mid-1960s, Chu gradually started to include different white colour scales in his abstract works in an attempt to artistically conceptualize snowy mountains, but was ultimately unable to find an optimal approach. In 1985, the artist traveled from Paris to Geneva in Switzerland to take part in a group exhibition titled "Five Abstract Artists" organized by Galerié Pierre-Hubert. On the return journey as the train passed the Alps it encountered a major snowstorm and Chu marveled as the snow fell viciously and with force, passionately swirling like a symphony. He later recalled: "As we passed the Alps, I was really excited to see a winter snowstorm. After reaching home I was unable to sleep all night and the next morning I started painting. At the time, I forgot about myself and was completely immersed in the painting; it was the only thing that existed, not me. From 1935 to 1985, a period of 50 years, it was the first time I had ever felt that sensation of forgetting everything and from that time on I came to feel completely at one with my paintings."

Along with the sensation of being overwhelmed, excitement and joy, Chu Teh-Chun took the image he had seen with his own eyes and transformed it into swirling passion and inspiration that burst forth from his brush like snow to create the brilliant scenery of Synthèse Hivernale completed in 1985.

Breaking with the Past, Powerful Dynamic Beauty of Glaciers and Snow

"The main element in Chu Teh-Chun’s paintings is ‘movement’. Paintings are like a chorus of movement, and Chu Teh-Chun has harmoniously united the rhythmic beauty of his movement with colours. People are able to witness this wild dance but without a pin drop of noise, as if through a layer of crystal. The power and coarseness of the energy is enveloped in the beauty of tranquility."
——Chu Teh-Chun

The "dynamic power" of heavy snowfall is the defining feature of Chu Teh-Chun’s Snow Scene series. In addition, unlike the use of blank spaces or white colour to depict static scenes of snow-covered forests in traditional Chinese landscape painting, Chu breaks with earlier practices, seeking instead to revitalize natural imagery through abstract expressiveness, utilizing the dynamic beauty of frost and snow to create a completely new world of painting. In this way, Synthèse Hivernale is exactly as the name suggests a synthesis of landscape layout, light orientation, confusion of colours, line and dot combinations and other expressive forms, employing layered tension to highlight the language of "movement." Moreover, these give rise to myriad images of natural associations, reverberating tonality and calligraphic transference.

Constructing Landscapes Past and Present, Dynamic Momentum in Brilliant Poetry

The first layer of momentum showcased in this work is seen in its use of structural space. The back and forth of the lines and light source guides the line of vision, starting in the lower right corner of the painting, using several clear horizontal lines to create a "Z-shaped" meandering small path. It also ingeniously incorporates the towering layout of Snow by Five Dynasties (907-979) painter Juran, so viewers look at the light source at the centre of the piece from where it diffuses. Moving from the centre to the left of the painting the viewer encounters the golden light and warm sun behind layer upon layer of peaks; in the upper right part of the work we gradually enter the misty snow and ice of the distant mountains, creating a multifaceted perspective experience in an abstract work that recreates the splendorous snow-capped mountains in Snowy Cold Forest Landscape by Northern Song painter Fang Kuan (950-1032).

Visualizing the Five Senses, Beautiful Brushstrokes Viewed Through Crystal

Although "light" is a central structural element in the works of Chu Teh-Chun, "stroke strength" is even more important. In this area, Chu benefited greatly from the foundation he developed learning Chinese characters and practicing calligraphy from a young age. Over several decades of creating art, the artist always employed the rhythm of calligraphic strokes, showcased in his grasp of oil painting.

In this work, Chu pushes the boundaries of stroke strength to their very limit, using rhythmic stroke strength to create a visual feast that draws out the flow of the wind, dimly discernible clouds and the dancing snow. In this way, the artist successfully depicts the movement of heavy snowfall, the sound made by chunks of snow falling, the coolness of ice and snow gladdening the heart and refreshing the mind, thereby directly connecting to different senses of the viewer; eyes, ears, nose and skin. On studying the painting, it is almost as if the viewer is transcendent, looking out over the ice and snow of the universe from on high, and through visual, aural and tactile sensations become one with nature, achieving the purification and sublimation of heart, body and mind.

Myriad Images of Snow: Timely Clearing after Snowfall Colour Movement

Chu Teh-Chun’s third layer of momentum is to be found in his expression of "snowdrops," and not merely in the elucidation of "snow" as a single element, but in myriad images of snow: with sleet, wind and frost, clouds and dripping water all making an appearance in Synthèse Hivernale. Other than inheriting the "dotting moss" technique, used in traditional Song Dynasty painting by artists such as Mi Fu (1051-1107) and Fang Kuan, Chu goes a step further by employing Pollock’s drip technique from Western expressionism, integrating the two as a single whole to showcase wonderful dynamic snow. It is here that the artist utilizes physical movement to stimulate stroke strength, embracing such techniques as spraying, splashing, splattering and sprinkling to draw out the rhythms of frost and snow flying on the wind, scattering, overlapping and accumulating.

With its dynamic connectivity of dots, lines and real space, the painting is not confined to a particular time and place or the depiction of a specific landscape, but rather seeks to showcase different types from nature and shifts through dynamic to static. As such, the pure white snow falls from the sky, dotted and boundless like a waterfall or a curtain, melting or soaring like discordant rhythms or starlight glistening in the sky, a response to the age-old question: "What does whirling snow bring to mind?" In its representation of multiple image analogies, the comprehensive expressiveness of Chu Teh-Chun’s Synthèse Hivernale represents a profound integration of past and present, East and West.

A Vast Forest of Jade, Coming Spring Vibrant and Alive

Another spiritual aspect of Synthèse Hivernale is the way in which the artist uses turquoise green as the main colour against a foundation of white. In the painting, the Flemish white of fog and snow, silver white and pearl white are showcased with different layers of saturated blue and green. Add to that the carefully considered mixing of warmer colours such as brick red, coffee-brown, and light yellow, and the interplay of cold and warm hues creates a joyous waltz that elevates the layering and texture of the painting. At the same time, the coexistence of the silent and ethereal nature of winter, together with the clamor and vitality of summer, offers a unique new hope. The work contains within it the seasonal changes of winter and spring snow, accurately depicting vivid life and the moment at which spring arrives, thereby adding a layer of "hope momentum."

Eastern and Western Achievement in Presenting Spirit through Form, Blending States of Mind

If we compare the classic Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth by 19th Century English landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner painted at the age of 67, to Chu Teh-Chun’s Synthèse Hivernale created at 65, the similar use of light and colour is immediately apparent and both brim with natural energy and movement. However, Turner’s romantic work conveys the unpredictable violence of nature and the insignificance of man, while seeking to capture shape through memory with a form that approximates to abstraction. In contrast, Chu takes this method to its extreme so that although the painting is a landscape it is not pure representation but rather a scene from memory combined with a mindset that seeks out truth. In other words, the very essence of Chu Teh-Chun’s "Snow Scene" paintings involves not copying external images but precisely capturing the essence of objects, while using minimalist colours to create rich changes and reveal a plane of perfection, where the brush follows the artist’s heart. In other words, Synthèse Hivernale adopts an all-encompassing language that brings together Chu’s mastery of poetry, calligraphy and music. As such, the artist’s familiarity and ease with abstract artistic expression and deep understanding that what you see is what you feel, ultimately encompasses the aesthetic achievements of East and West, classicism and modernism, a testament to Chu Teh-Chun scaling new artistic heights in his 60s, a rare and impressive achievement.

Price estimate:
HKD: 9,000,000 – 15,000,000
USD: 1,149,400 - 1,915,700

Auction Result:
HKD: --