Martha Argerich Plays Beethoven

CHU TEH-CHUN (1920-2014), *L’espoir est né (Hope is Born)* signed in Chinese; signed and dated ‘CHU THE-CHUN 91’ (lower right); signed in Chinese; signed and dated ‘CHU THE-CHUN 1991 L’espoir est né’ (on the reverse) oil on canvas, 180 x 230 cm. (70 7/8 x 90 1/2 in.), Painted in 1991, Image Source: Christie’s

“Chu created a series of artworks in the 1990s that explored shadows and light, forms and colours, as he began to shift towards inner explorations, which the artist described as “roaming among my memories.” … The painting presented here, is a large-scale work from the series that epitomizes the artist’s fluidity with light and masterful use of colours. French art critic Jean-Francois Chabrun once described Chu as a “20th century Sung Dynasty painter”, praising him for integrating creative spirits of Western abstract art with traditional Chinese landscape compositions and poetic portrayals of time and space.
A sense of urgency, meaning behind life, and personal ideas and emotions are skillfully fused together with Western abstraction and traditional Chinese aestheticism in L’espoir (Hope). This rare masterpiece created by Chu in his later years exemplifies the three notable features that critic Francois Cheng believes are distinctive in Chu’s art, which are “the power to arouse us, a rhythmic quality, and a sense of innovativeness.”
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