Remembering an artist who donated 'his best work' to Shanghai
The large abstract oil painting that greets visitors in the entrance hall of Shanghai Grand Theater is a replica of the artwork “Symphonie Festive,” created by Chinese-French painter Chu Teh-Chun to mark the venue’s fifth anniversary in 2003.
The original, donated by the painter, hangs in the theater’s art gallery on the fifth floor.
To mark the 100th anniversary of Chu’s birth, the theater opened its art gallery to the public earlier this month. Also hanging there are nine smaller drafts of the painting Chu left from the process of creating “Symphonie Festive.”
Chu died in 2014. He was 83 when he created the artwork and attended its unveiling in person. At that event, he called the work his “largest and best.”
A replica of Chu Teh-Chun's large abstract oil painting “Symphonie Festive” graces the entrance hall of Shanghai Grand Theater.
Indeed, the 7.3m x 4.3m canvas is the largest oil painting Chu ever created. He has been acclaimed for integrating traditional Chinese painting techniques with Western abstract art. “Symphonie Festive” showcases his extraordinary skill in brushwork and artistic imagination.
According to Le Shengli, former general manager of Shanghai Grand Theater, Chu visited Shanghai in May 2002, accompanied by his friend and fellow painter Wu Guanzhong.
“It was Shanghai’s best season, and Chu intended to capture the rhythm of springtime, like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, making his work lyrical and melodic,” said Le.
After returning to France, Chu spent more than six months on the painting, which was displayed at the Opera National de Paris for a month before being shipped to Shanghai.
As part of the painter’s 100th birthday celebration, the Chu Teh-Chun Foundation and Les Films de L’Odyssée created a documentary entitled “Chu Teh-Chun.” It premiered for invited guests at Shanghai Grand Theater on December 4.
The film highlights the artist’s personal and artistic life. It was directed by the Portuguese-French filmmaker Christophe Fonseca, who also produced the acclaimed film “As Vozes do Fado,” a tribute to an iconic musical genre of the Portuguese.
Le Shengli, former general manager of Shanghai Grand Theater, shows a picture of Chu, which was taken when the painter visited Shanghai.
Born in 1920 in an area that is now part of Anhui Province, Chu entered the National School of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in 1935 to study Chinese painting and Western art. He graduated in 1941.
Four years later, he joined the faculty of the architecture department of National Central University in Nanjing. He moved to Taiwan in 1949, teaching Western painting at the Taiwan Normal University.
Chu, Wu and fellow classmate Zao Wou-Ki came to be known as the “Three Musketeers” of Chinese modernist art.
In 1955, Chu moved to Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life. He became a French citizen in 1980. In 1997, he was the first artist of Chinese origin to be elected a member of the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts of France. His works are displayed in the permanent collections of more than 50 museums around the world.
Chu’s widow Therese Chu and their son Yvon Chu also feature in the documentary film. A 1956 painting Chu did of his wife was praised by Wu as the “Mona Lisa of the East.”
“My mother and I decided to take part in the making of the film to pay tribute to my father and promote his works,” Yvon Chu said in a video he sent to Shanghai for the premiere of the documentary.
“I watched the film ‘Pissarro, sur les traces du père des impressionnistes,’ directed by Christophe Fonseca, and was attracted by his creative style. Thus, he was commissioned to do the documentary.”
Yvon Chu is now the president of the Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
