Exhibited:

In 1955 Chu left Taiwan for France by ship and fulfilled his long-time wish to learn in Paris. He had a complete training in Chinese culture and literature; he acquired the essence of western art in the academy. For this precious opportunity he worked hard and participated various saloon art shows that won himself recognition from the art world in Paris.

When Abstract Expressionism culminated in the 1950s in the USA and Europe, Chu, who just touched down in Paris, was still a firm believer in earlier post-impressionism. All of a sudden he could not adjust himself to adapt to the change. He hoped for more free space and to get rid of creational restraints at that period of time. In 1956 the posthumous work exhibition of Nicolas de Staël in the Musée national d'rt Moderne in Paris struck an immense impact on him. Nicolas de Staël, the descendent of a Russian aristocrat who committed suicide a year before had a free and passionate style in both figurative and abstract forms, which was exactly what Chu was looking to achieve.

As a result from 1956 Chu took a step towards abstract paintings. The transition period from figurative to abstract was very short for the inspiration of Nicolas de Staël showed him a shortcut to abstract paintings. Abstract paintings gave him a sense of freedom and he always maintained that he felt happy and carefree upon the completion of an abstract painting because he got rid of the limitation and restriction of his past figurative works. In 1958 he held the first individual exhibition in Paris where he had 5 or 6 paintings sold. Le Monde gave high praise of the lines and composition he had in the works. In the same year, the famous Galerie Henriette Legendre organized an exhibition "Peintures de l'Ecole de Paris"where Chu participated as an artist from the Far East. Two years later, he was again invited in the abstract painting exhibition "Ecole de Paris1960"of the distinguished Galerie Charpentier. From then on, Chu was recognized as a member of the Paris school.

The upheavals of war made Chu lose all the works he had when he was in Mainland China. He immigrated to Taiwan 1949 and had been teaching during the six years here in order to save enough money for further education. All the paintings sold at that period of time to raise money were gone to these days, which was the reason why scholars merely conduct researches upon his works in Paris. In a word, his works of the 1950s are rare and precious while those of the 1960s onwards are well known for the increases exposure. Chu has established himself and with the help of agents he also found a niche in the world art market.

The work in this auction "Abstract"1959 is a painting typical of his early abstract works. The background is composed of cubic of all colors and flow like jewelry, crystal, notes and rhythm, which depict imaginative visual space. Lines resembling Chinese calligraphy run in the front view that creates a harmonious effect. The dark lines are like the ancient Chinese calligraphy scripts which the artist practiced upon when he was young, such as the strong and sturdy Yen style and the gentle Liu style in Chinese calligraphy. The abstract pattern and color create a carefree and pleasant atmosphere.

Hubert Juin, the famous French art and literature critic complimented Chu that he explored the space for painting with his exquisite skills (la virtuosité avec laquelle Chu Teh-chun explore l'space de la peinture). Another fan of his as well as his oldest agent Maurice Panier maintained that "l'space de Chu n'ppartient pas à la perspective classique; c'est un espace, pourrait-on dire, multidimensional...Le choix subtil des couleurs et la disposition de petits carrés dans le tableau font naître des modulations oúpassé la lumière. Les toiles sont à la fois espace et structure.¹" Success never comes without hard work. Chu explored a whole new space of contemporary art even at the early stage of his career. He employed the essence of Chinese calligraphy into his work and added the free style of western abstract paintings. He revolutionized the way to depict landscape in a new form; he is indeed an innovator.

1 Pierre Cabanne, Chu Teh-chun, Cercle d'rt, Paris, 1993, p. 54