Chu Teh-Chun or Zhu Dequn (24 October 1920 – 26 March 2014) was a Chinese-French abstract painter acclaimed for his pioneering style integrating traditional

Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...

techniques with Western abstract art. Chu Teh-Chun enrolled in the National School of Fine Arts (now

China Academy of Art China Academy of Art (), also translated as China National Academy of Fine Arts, was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of the Republic of China and the renowned educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first art university and first gradua ...

), where he studied under

Fang Ganmin Fang Ganmin (; 15 February 1906 - January 1984) was a Chinese French-trained painter, sculptor and educator, who was educated in Paris and spent most of his adult life in China. Regarded as one of the fathers of Chinese oil painting, Fang was bo ...

and Wu Dayu. He was the first ethnic Chinese member of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

of France, and together with Wu Guanzhong and Zao Wou-Ki were dubbed the "Three Musketeers" of modernist Chinese artists trained in China and France.

Early life and education

Chu Teh-Chun was born in 1920 in the town of Baitu in

Xiao County Xiao County or Xiaoxian () is a county in the north of Anhui Province, China, bordering the provinces of Jiangsu to the north and northeast and Henan to the west. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. It was former ...

, which was then in

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

province but now part of

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

province. In 1935 he entered the National School of Fine Arts (now

) in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

, graduating in 1941. At the school he studied

under Pan Tianshou and Western art under

and Wu Dayu., who were prominent Chinese artists trained in France. Among his schoolmates were Wu Guanzhong and Zao Wou-Ki. The three, dubbed the "Three Musketeers" of Chinese modernist art, were all elected as members of the

. It was owing to Chu's influence that Wu Guanzhong decided to abandon engineering and become an artist.

Career

In 1945 Chu became a faculty member of the architecture department of the

National Central University National Central University (NCU, ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Kwet-li̍p Chung-yong Thài-ho̍k'', Wade–Giles: ''Kuo2 Li4 Chung Yang Ta4 Hsüeh2'' or ''中大'', ''Chung-ta'') is a public research university with long-standing traditions based in Taiw ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, then China's capital. With the communist victory in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

, Chu moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in 1949, joining the

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and ...

where he taught Western-style painting. He moved to Paris in 1955, where he lived for the rest of his life. He became a French citizen in 1980, and a member of the

in 1997. In April 1956, Chu painted an oil on canvas portrait of his wife Tung Ching-Chao (董景昭), which won the silver medal at the Paris Salon. Chu called the painting his "lucky star", after which his career became increasingly successful. Wu Guanzhong praised the painting as the "''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

'' of the East". Inspired by

Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Early life ...

's abstract landscape paintings, Chu abandoned figurative painting and adopted a unique style using bold strokes of colour which evoked

Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form, combining purely visual art and interpretation of the literary meaning. This type of expression has been widely practiced in China and has been generally held in high este ...

. His new style was immediately successful. In 1964, an exhibition of his works at the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

brought him international fame. On 17 December 1997, Chu was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of France, the first Frenchman of Chinese origin to be chosen. He was also made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2001. His paintings are now in the permanent collections of more than 50 museums all over the world. Major exhibitions of his work were held at the

Shanghai Art Museum The Shanghai Art Museum () was an art museum in the city of Shanghai, China. In October 2012, the museum was rebranded as the China Art Museum when it moved to the China pavilion at Expo 2010 on the former Shanghai Expo 2010 lands. The Shanghai ...

in 2005 and Beijing's

National Art Museum of China The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC, ) is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is one of the largest art museums in China, and is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of Chin ...

in 2010. In 2003, Chu donated an oil painting to the

Shanghai Grand Theatre The Shanghai Grand Theater () is a complex located at the intersection of Central Boulevard and Huangpi Road South in the northern part of the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai. The building houses the Shanghai Opera House ...

for its fifth anniversary. The painting now decorates the theatre's central lobby. At the unveiling ceremony, Chu called the painting his biggest and best work.

Art market

In November 2013, an untitled

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest o ...

diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...

painted by Chu in 1963 was sold for HK$70.7 million (US$9.1 million) at an auction in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, setting his personal record. His previous record was another diptych entitled "La Foret Blanche II", which was sold at auction in 2012 for HK$60 million, or $7.7 million USD According to the Hurun Art List, the total value of Chu's artworks sold in 2013 at public auction was US$65 million, ranking third among all living Chinese artists, behind only Zeng Fanzhi and

Fan Zeng Fan Zeng (277–204 BC) was an adviser to the warlord Xiang Yu, who fought for supremacy with Liu Bang (Emperor Gao), the founder of the Han dynasty, during the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC). Life Fan Zeng was from Juchao (present-day Yaf ...

Death

On 26 March 2014, Chu Teh-Chun died in Paris at age 93, closely following the deaths of his friends and fellow modern artists Wu Guanzhong in 2010 and Zao Wou-Ki in 2013.

References

External links

''Chu Teh-Chun: Nature Lives with Me'', Waddington Custot, London, 2017CHU TEH CHUN: Nature in Abstraction at de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Teh-Chun 1920 births 2014 deaths Abstract painters Republic of China painters 20th-century French painters French male painters 21st-century French painters Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Chinese emigrants to France China Academy of Art alumni Painters from Anhui People from Suzhou, Anhui Academic staff of the National Taiwan Normal University Academic staff of Nanjing University Educators from Anhui