Chu Teh-Chun

Art Brokerage: Chu Teh-Chun Chinese Artist: b. 1920-2014. Chu Teh-Chun was a French-Chinese artist whose work was at the forefront of the integration of traditional Chinese painting styles with Western abstraction in the 20th century. Born in 1920 in Hangzhou, China, he studied at the National School of Fine Arts, now known as China Academy of Art. In 1949, he moved to Taipei and taught at the National University before moving to Paris in 1955. In 1980, Chu Teh-Chun became a French citizen and in 1997 he became the first ethnic member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. When Chu settled in Paris, he visited a Nicolas de Stäel retrospective which had a profound effect on him. He quickly moved away from figurative painting and started focusing on abstract landscapes. This led him to form a style that would become synonymous, melding his training as a calligrapher and a painter to create works which intricately coalesce both mediums. His paintings, which are vibrant and full of movement, were heavily influenced by the strong brushstrokes of the calligraphic line and have a profound sense of depth, poetry and musicality. Although his work demonstrates the stylistic freedom of mid-century movements such as art informel and abstract expressionism, Chu always retained the rigorous technical brushwork he learned as a student in mainland China. Listings wanted.