「春雪滿空來，觸處似花開。」
Green Jade in the Spring Breeze:
A Monumental Diptych by Chu Teh-Chun from the 1980s
Chu Teh-Chun painted Printemps précoce (Lot 1040) in 1985, at the height of his artistic career. In 1982, the Musee d'art moderne Andre Malraux organised Chu’s first solo exhibition since his relocation to France. In the next year, Chu was appointed an external reviewer by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and was invited to return to China as an expatriate Chinese painter by the Beijing Artists’ Association. Recognitions such as these indicated Chu’s preeminent status in the art world in both East and West and opened a brilliant chapter in his career. Dating from this period of unbridled confidence and creativity, Printemps précoce is one of Chu’s most spectacular compositions. In this monumental diptych measuring 2.58 metres in width and 1.92 metres in height, Chu wields his brush with dashing bravura to picture a natural miracle of snow in spring wind. Printemps précoce was included in the 1991 exhibition of Chu Teh-Chu’s monumental paintings at the Musée d'Art Contemporain in Dunkirk and is of tremendous art historical and collects ing significance. According to the artist’s major catalogues and to auction records, Chu painted only eighteen monumental diptychs in the 1980s, and only eight examples from any period have ever appeared on the market around the world. Another of these rare examples is Vent debout, offered at Replica Shoes ’s in the spring of this year.
During his t.mes in China in 1983, Chu was moved by the magnificence of the landscapes of his native country. Back in his Paris studio, he immediately began the only pentatych that he ever created in his life, Les éléments confédérés (1983-1984), which measures 6.5 metres in width. In this work, the artist pays homage to the Tang-dynasty tradition of blue-green landscapes in mineral pigments to express his profound feelings about China’s natural beauty. Today, Les éléments confédérés stands as the ultimate test.mes nt to Chu’s artistic accomplishment. Painted slightly thereafter, Printemps précoce (1985) likewise adopts the jade-like green palette of the earlier work to present a mesmerising spring scene, revealing a similar inspiration by the magnificent landscapes of China. Printemps précoce responds also to an earlier triptych entitled Dynamisme vert (1982), now in the collects ion of the National Museum of Art of China. Written on the back of the canvas by Chu himself, the French title of Printemps précoce suggests a beautiful moment of vitality. Painted in the same context and all inspired by nature, the polytychs Printemps précoce, Les éléments confédérés, and Dynamisme vert are masterpieces of equal significance and all consummate expressions of Chu Teh-Chun’s aesthetics.
Between 1985 and 1989, Chu Teh-Chun was inspired by the snowscapes of the Alps to create the Snow Scene Series, which includes Harmonie hivernale, which sold for 230,000,000 Hong Kong dollars at auction—a record for the artist. Created in the same year as the start of the Snow Scene Series, Printemps précoce reveals snowflakes within its majestic vision to the attentive viewer. Dated by the artist to April 30, it may be regarded as the first of the Snow Scene Series. Therefore, Printemps précoce does not only evokes the classical Chinese blue-green landscapes like Les éléments confédérés and Dynamisme vert but also embodies the style and inspiration of the Snow Scene Series. Here, in applying splashes and dabs of white pigments throughout the composition to suggest snow, Chu channels the dashing Action Painting of the likes of Jackson Pollock but at the same t.mes is grounded in the robust brushwork of the cursive calligraphy of Huaisu of the Tang dynasty. He achieves the harmonious fusion of both Chinese classical and Western modernist aesthetics and their philosophical foundations.
COMPARABLE WORKS SOLD AT AUCTION:
春風玉・瑞雪伊始：
朱德群八〇年代雙聯鉅作
「春雪滿空來，觸處似花開 」，朱德群的《春雪》（拍品編號1040）創於1985年，正屬藝術家的事業生涯盛世花開的時刻：1982年，朱德群在安德烈・馬爾羅現代美術館舉行旅法以來首個博物館個展；翌年，朱德群受邀到香港中文大學擔任校外評審，又應北京美術家協會的邀請，以旅居海外華人畫家的身分重遊故國，種種經歷皆標誌著其躍登在東、西方藝壇現代大師之位，迎來享負盛名的輝煌年代。《春雪》誕生之時，正值朱德群精神狀態及創造力臻至鼎盛之際，雙聯鉅作總尺幅長近2.6米、高1.9米，體現藝術家以大刀闊斧的氣魄駕馭畫面，營造一幕春風來雪的自然奇觀，誠然是朱德群的多聯屏中最為精彩絕倫的宏幅之一。1991年，朱德群於敦刻爾刻當代藝術博物館舉行〈朱德群—鉅幅作品〉展覽，而本作即爲展品之一，極具學術及收藏價值。據藝術家主要畫冊和拍賣紀錄的資料統計，朱德群於八〇年代僅創作十八幅雙聯鉅作，另一例即爲本年春季上拍之《迎風》；而過往出現國際拍賣、跨越各年代的雙聯或以上鉅作，則僅有八幅，極為珍罕。
在1983年回國期間，朱德群目睹家鄉山河欣欣向榮的盛況有感而發，回到巴黎的畫室以後，便馬上開展了寬達6.5米、畢生唯一五聯屏巨製《自然頌》（1983-84年），將遨遊神州大地的精神感悟盡訴畫中，復興唐代青山綠水畫的富麗堂皇，成就其藝術高度的砥柱。創於稍後之《春雪》（1985年）同樣採用青玉碧麗之迷人色調，表現一幕春日動人之景，若對比中國奇山景觀，可見此一關鍵靈感之來源，蔚為壯觀。與此同時，本作亦緊緊著呼應北京中國美術館藏之三聯屏《綠色活力》（1982年），配合藝術家於本作畫背親題之法文標題，寓意春意滿溢之美好時節。於此分析，《春雪》、《自然頌》與《綠色活力》三幅多聯作之精彩程度不分伯仲，而創作背景與構思均同以自然造化為師，貫徹朱德群的美學精神。
1985至1989年，朱德群受阿爾卑斯山風雪啟迪，創作出膾炙人口的「雪景系列」，當中《盛世雪》即以近港幤2億3,000萬雄踞現今藝術家之世界拍賣紀錄。《春雪》創於「雪景系列」開展的同年，畫面春風飄雪，細看之下可見雪花揮灑點綴，創出一幕磅礴的視界。由此可見，《春雪》不僅呼應《自然頌》及《綠色活力》中青山綠水畫之深意，而「雪景系列」的風格與靈感亦映現其中，足見媲美此巔峰系列。藝術家以白彩潑灑滿幅，寓意雪花紛飛，風格上擷取西方行動畫派如傑克森・波拉克的豪邁放逸， 而底蘊則接引唐代懷素筆下蒼勁有力的行草筆法，體現藝術家將兩源美學中相輔相成、和諧共融的哲思完美體現。
An Appreciation of Printemps précoce (provided by Fondation Chu Teh-Chun)
《春雪》賞析（由朱德群基金會提供）
“At the origin of my work lies an intensity of visual emotion that has always stayed with me. Thus, every t.mes I stand in front of the forests or the mountains, I become overwhelmed by this emotion, so much so that I can no longer distinguish myself from the reality.”
As a favoured subject matter of Chu Teh-Chun, seasonal changes—however big or small—were an endless source of inspiration for the artist. In China, spring is celebrated as the marker of the lunar new year; in the rest of the world, it signals not only the beginning of a new cycle but also the renewal of joy. This particularly important t.mes of the year sees nature waking up to various shades of green as it is gradually warmed up by the rising sun.
The subject rendered in this painting under the title “Printemps précoce” evokes the early arrival of spring in 1985, which aligns factually with the climactic increase in global temperatures that year. The diptych aptly captures a moment of transition when the traces of winter such as the lingering snow co-exist with the newly arrived, airy spring fog. Here, the sun brings with it warmth that awakens the meadow as if announcing the promised return of not only the new season but also gaiety that belongs to us all.
「回溯每幅畫作之源起，終究是有種在視覺上濃得化不開的情感，一直活現於我眼前。因此，置身山林空谷前所體會的情感，屢屢使我心神盪漾，如妙游於物外，虛實間竟別無二致。」
四季更迭是朱德群眼中尤為珍視的繪畫題材，四時美景陰晴晦明，幻變出萬千氣象，無不使他感到奇哉妙哉。在中國傳統，農曆新年乃慶祝新春佳節的喜慶時刻，在全球各地皆象徵一元復始，萬象更新，滿載普世歡騰的氣氛。因此，農曆新年在每年中見證著特別重要的時刻，此際春回大地，青枝綠葉披上深淺不一的青蔥綠調，顯得翠色欲滴，在溫度逐漸緩升的陽光下融於陣陣暖意中。
本作的有形之象與題名《春雪》合一，喚起1985年比往常早臨的春天，至今回看，當年也確實是歷史上全球氣溫顯著急升的一年。這幅雙聯屏讓當時早春突然到臨的驟變直撲眼前，從畫中所繪意象可見，寒冬未逝，霜雪半積半融，然而春天的氣息已悄然隱於雪白的薄霧之間，預告著萬物甦醒的新景象將至。綠茵溫潤如玉，大地沐於萬縷陽光，欣喜之情油然而生。