Chu Teh-Chun (1920-2014)
Chu Teh-Chun's work is situated in a double tradition. That of classical Chinese painting and calligraphy, and that of modern Western painting, which he discovered and studied at the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1935. His encounter with the painting of Nicolas de Staël marked a turning point. His painting was freed from figuration and his palette was enriched with a great variety of colors and shades. His inspirations and the emotions he translates into his works with great subtlety are marked by Chinese poetry, classical music and opera.
Works of art by artist Chu Teh-Chun
Biography of artist Chu Teh-Chun
Chu Teh-Chun was born in China's Anhui (formerly Jiangsu) province in 1920. His father and grandfather were traditional doctors who collected Chinese paintings. Chu learned calligraphy and classical Chinese poetry at an early age. At the age of 15, in 1935, he entered the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where his teaching was considered avant-garde. His teachers, including his director, the painter Lin Fengmian, had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the time, Paris was one of the hotbeds of modernism. Chu discovered both Western painting techniques and traditional Chinese painting.
In 1937, at the start of the Sino-Japanese war, Chu left Hangzhou, with the Academy of Fine Arts, for Chongqing in the west, which temporarily became the capital and concentrated intellectuals, universities and high schools. Chu graduated in 1941. He became assistant professor at the National Academy of Fine Arts, which at the time united the Peking and Hangzhou academies. Chu's painting was influenced by Paul Cézanne, André Derain and Henri Matisse.
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