Oil on paper

50 × 65 cm. 19 5/8 × 25 5/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and English, and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
5 Jun 2005, Ravenel Taipei Spring Auction, Lot 31
Acquired directly by present private important Asian collector from the above

The Celebration of the Time, the Glorious of the Age
The Splendid Light Rhythm of Chu Teh-Chun

In 1997, Chu Teh-Chun, who had been highly acclaimed in the international art circle, finally climbed to the pinnacle of his artistic career. In that year, he was awarded as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of France, the most honored academic institution, becoming the first Chinese person to receive this honor in 200 years. In the same year, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an Asian touring exhibition, Recent Works of Chu Teh-Chun, traveling from the National Art Museum of China in Beijing to Hong Kong and Taiwan. In May, the exhibition was held in Hong Kong, by the eve of the handover. The unprecedentedly bright firework festival over Victoria Harbor celebrated the return of Hong Kong and deeply touched the artist on tour. After a ten-year absence from Hong Kong, he returned the motherland with honor, whose lofty ambitions echoed the prosperity in front of him. In joy and emotion, he created this important work Hong Kong No. 24 (Lot52) to commemorate the sovereignty handover of Hong Kong. This work was exhibited in the 2004 Chu Teh-Chun and His Universe exhibition by Hong Kong Alisan Fine Arts, and later in the 2008 retrospective Solo Exhibition of Chu Teh-Chun by the Ueno Royal Museum in Japan, which proves its representativeness.

In the City's Bright Light, See the Citizen's Prosperous Life

In Hong Kong No. 24, Chu uses jubilant and warm orange, brown colors to depict the scene of fireworks blooming in the sky, and present the vastness of the sky with sweep touch. While below, colors of lemon yellow, red, purple, and plain intertwines like the dancing jewels, constituting a world in the boundless beauty of magnificence in the synesthesia and illusion of light, color, and sound. The work resembles the artist's abstract reconstruction of the night view imagination of Hong Kong. Among the colorful modern high-rise buildings along the harbor, the yellow and white color on the left is shaped like a flying butterfly, presenting the iconic top “seagull design” of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. The sentimental and connotative painting fully demonstrates the masterful controllability of the artist and his energy in creation. His painting incorporates the ultimate aesthetics in the recording of a historic moment, recreating the prosperous sceneries of Hong Kong 1997 Handover and the spectacular fireworks.

Spontaneity as a Universal Value

In the late 1970s, after Chu Teh-Chun's art fully embraced the element of “light” as an expression of the Yin-Yang relationship of space, the artist moved on to “multidirectional light source perspectives,” thereby expanding the scope of brush force. This allowed lines imbued with the rhythm of Eastern calligraphy to drive colored points of light, organically combining as a painting space underpinned with rhythmic flow. This is fully displayed in the light-shade rhythm created through colored ink and the interplay of lines and surfaces in Spontaneousness, which was completed in 1978.

In this work, Chu embraces the spontaneity suggested in the title. The upper part of the painting is informed by a cursive script sense of speed, fully expanding the crisscrossing of brushstrokes so that the trajectory of the brushwork is clear, creating a strong and overflowing profound ink rhythm. In the lower part of the work the pulsating blue and yellow blocks break through the scene of pure blackness, while the ink lines are like a cascading waterfall, creating a strong rhythm, with Eastern calligraphy technique showcased in unfolding Western oils. In addition, the deeply tranquil blue and energetic light of the yellow establish a multifaceted light source, with layers repeating and accumulating as it emanates outwards. This continues the dynamic model of coming together and dispersing within the spontaneously forming tension and balance, while the chaotic interaction of color and light-shade speaks to universal values in boundless time and space.

Price estimate:
HKD: 700,000 - 900,000
USD: 89,900 - 115,600

Auction Result:
HKD: --