The political and cultural reverberations of World War II had a profound effect on artists all over Europe in the 1940s. Faced with the instabilities and anxieties of social unrest, many European artists fled to New York and transformed the vibrant city into a creative haven, emulating what had been left behind in Paris. The Abstract art movement thus diverged into two pathways: that of Abstract Expressionism in America, and that of Lyrical Abstraction in France. The artists who left France for America inherited the rebellious spirit of Modernists and brought with them European methods of artistic exploration, approaching their creative production through the lens of introspection, eclectic painting techniques and unrestrained brushwork. This ignited the trend of American Abstract Expressionism around the world, simultaneously giving rise to a unique echelon of artistic talents: Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning and Mark Rothko. The trio’s prestige was widely recognized in Paris and had an immense influence on the Chinese artists who had relocated to the city at the t.mes , including Zhao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun and other seminal modern Chinese figures. To examine both groups in parallel with each other: Pollock evinces the anguish and confusion that are deeply embedded in his heart; de Kooning unravels the concerto of life within his loose compositional structures; Rothko conveys the fluctuations of his affections through a vibrant spectrum of color; and Chu Teh-Chun weaves the grand emotional significance of Abstract Expressionism into the philosophical traditions of Chinese aesthetics. In realizing a sublime balance between the two movements, Chu demonstrates to the world a modern union of the East and West. Executed in 1968 and completed in 1970, Sans titre (Lot 1045) is an outstanding Chinese Abstract post-war piece and stands as an incomparable paragon of Chu Teh-Chun’s oeuvre.

Looking back to the development of Zhu Teh-Chun’s abstract paintings in the 1950s and 1960s, he was first inspired by the stacked geometric blocks in the works of Nicolas de Staël, a pioneering figure of Lyrical Abstraction movement. At the same t.mes , the prevailing trend of abstract expressionism in the U.S. became another clue for Chu’s exploration of the essence of abstraction. In the 1960s, the lines in his works no longer served as the structure of the painting, but began to flow freely, inventing an open and spiritual space of his inner universe. The artist’s unique aesthetics then began to shine in Europe and across the globe, showcasing the emerging talents from the post-war Chinese artists. In 1969, during the t.mes when Chu Teh-Chun was creating Sans titre, he was invited to participate in the 10^th Bienal de São Paulo. The China Gallery was organized by Taiwan’s National Museum of History, which brought Chu’s work to South America for the first t.mes . Chu was given his own exhibition space, where he showed fifteen works, all on canvas size 100 or larger. Among those works, a masterpiece in a rare 200 x 200 cm format, No. 312 (1969) shares the same composition and brushwork with Sans titre. No. 312 was auctioned in Replica Shoes 's Hong Kong 2020 Autumn Evening Sale and achieved HKD 60,665,000. Comparing the two paintings, No. 312 divides the heaven and the earth with strong contrasting colors, with the lines running through the clouds, portraying a magnificent scenery of mountains and rivers. The landscape scene almost disappears in Sans titre, and the artist is using the classic color scheme of red and black to trigger the viewer's emotion, following with the ups and downs of brushstrokes, which is the best embodiment of the core value of abstract expressionism paintings.

Sans titre is painted in contrasting black and red colours. Black represents mysticism and the unknown, and red presents an anxious, intense visual experience. They are extreme opposites, but they have common elements. Through the juxtaposition of these two colours, the conflict between rationality and emotion is presented in dramatic fashion: good and evil, life and death, light and shadow, joy and pain, radicalism and conservatism. The work particularly echoes the colour field paintings of Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko. The limited colour palette engages with a part of the human consciousness that has never been touched; here, painting is a spiritual experience that transcends subject matter and approaches consciousness, surging to the heartbeat of inner poetry.

Abstract Expressionism is a non-representational expressive form founded on earlier styles of Cubism and Surrealism. The use of line in Abstract Expressionism perpetuates the spontaneity of Surrealism’s “automatic writing” technique, which highlights the emotional variability of the unconscious mind. Examples of this can be seen in the works of leading Abstract Expressionists, such as Willem de Kooning. The linear structure of Chu’s Sans titre is evenly distributed, and the work’s intense fluidity and expressiveness are reminiscent of de Kooning’s painting. In Sans titre, the lines are densely clustered in the lower part of the painting; they are heavy and rough, matching the restless linear structures of de Kooning’s work from the 1970s. At the same t.mes , if examined through the lens of Chinese calligraphy and painting, the work echoes the “overwhelming vastness” of the brushwork of Pan Tianshou, Chu’s Chinese painting professor during his t.mes at the National Academy of Art. The upper half of the painting is calmer and more fluid, building an immersive sensory experience that echoes the smooth fluttering of the ribbon-like lines in de Kooning’s work from the 1980s. A glimpse of the contours of a Song-era landscape are diluted in the interweaving and juxtaposition of colour and line. Chu’s emotions are sublimated into this forceful and lofty yet rhythmic work. As Willem de Kooning once said, “Content is a glimpse of something, an encounter like a flash.”

二十世紀四十年代的歐洲，正值二戰戰火蔓延之際，許多曾經活躍於此的前衛藝術家紛紛走避美國，紐約逐漸轉變為與巴黎平分秋色的世界藝術之都。位於法國和美國的藝術家們面臨戰後的迷茫和社會的危機，做出了共同的回應，這也導致了全球抽象藝術分化為不同形式在兩大洲平行發展的局面：美國以抽象表現主義盛行，法國則以抒情抽象等為代表。這兩種抽象藝術表面看來似乎殊途同歸，但究其本質卻有關鍵性的差異。美國藝術評論家克萊門特·格林伯格在其1953年發表的一篇藝術評論文章中即有提到，源自法國的抽象藝術注重色調與結構的美感，整體基調溫和且華麗，與之相對的美國抽象表現主義則摒棄現有成規，更加直接、奔放且激進。離開法國踏入新環境的藝術家們繼承了歐洲此前對於不定形藝術方面的探索，也完美地繼承了現代主義的反叛性格，將視覺轉向了內在情感，以不拘一格的繪畫手法，和粗獷自由的行筆風格，在全球掀起了一道美國抽象表現主義風潮。隨著這種新式抽象的崛起，藝術界湧現出波洛克、德庫寧、羅斯科等眾多極具個人特色的抽象藝術家，他們的魅力遠及巴黎，並先後影響了當年那一批遠渡重洋移居法國的華人藝術家，這其中就包括趙無極、朱德群等華人現代藝術殿堂級人物。並觀美國抽象表現主義代表人物：波洛克揮灑的是內心難以消解的痛苦和迷茫；德庫甯通過鬆散的結構調試生命協奏曲；羅斯科通過色域傳達情緒的波動及內心的衝突；朱德群則是在東方美學素養之上，結合抽象表現主義對於速度與力量的宏大情感衝擊，最終達到近乎完美的平衡，運籌帷幄地向世人展現東西融合的現代精神。是次秋拍呈獻的《無題》（拍品編號1045）起筆於1968年，最終完成於1970年，是朱德群作為戰後華人抽象新銳立足全球抽象表現主義運動版圖的重要代表作品。

回顧朱德群五、六〇年代抽象繪畫的發展歷程，最早源自抒情抽象代表人物尼可拉·德·史岱爾作品中堆疊的幾何形塊之啟發，藝術家從中提煉出自由的藝術表現形式，抽象創作從此初具形態。與此同時，大洋彼岸盛行的抽象表現主義風潮成為了朱氏探索抽象本質的另一條線索，經歷十餘年的進一步摸索，步入六〇年代，朱德群作品中的線條不再是作為畫面結構的框架，而開始通過線條的自由流動而經營出一個更為開放和自由的空間場域，其獨特美學由此開始在歐洲、甚至全球大放異彩，盡顯戰後華人現代新銳之獨特鋒芒。《無題》創作年間，朱德群受邀參與第十屆聖保羅雙年展（1969年），作品首度出征南美洲。 當年的中國展廳由台灣國立歷史博物館協辦，十五件超越100號畫布的恢弘鉅製受到貴賓禮遇，陳列於朱德群專用展室，向世界展現藝術家對於巨幅畫作游刃有餘的揮灑。參展作品中的一幅兩米見方之鉅作《第312號構圖》（1969年作）在畫面結構、運筆方式上與本幅《無題》如出一轍，前畫於2020年十月登錄香港蘇富比秋季晚間拍場，並以60,665,000港幣高價成交。兩畫並觀，《第312號構圖》以強烈的對比色分割天地，粗獷的線條攪動著大氣雲層，刻畫蕩氣迴腸的山川勝景；本幅《無題》在抽象的探索上相對更進一步，山脈景貌在大筆迴轉、停頓、潑灑、震顫間幾乎消失殆盡，經典的紅黑配色觸發觀者潛在的意識感知力，使其情緒隨著頓挫的筆觸而起伏波動，而這正是抽象表現主義繪畫核心價值的最佳體現。

《無題》以黑紅兩色對照構成畫面，黑色代表神秘和未知，紅色則是緊張而熱烈的視覺體現，他們極端對立，卻又互有共性。並置兩種顏色，人類感知中理智與情感的矛盾戲劇性地浮現：正與邪、生與死、光與影、狂喜與悲痛、激進與保守……尤為呼應俄裔抽象表現主義畫家羅斯科的色域繪畫，畫面有限的色彩潛入自我意識未能觸及之處，繪畫由此變為一種超越題材、接近意識本身的精神體驗，不斷地激盪著內心詩意的搏動。

另一方面，抽象表現主義這種非具象表現形式的興起，以歐洲立體派和超現實主義為重要基石，因而其線條的表現在很大程度上延續了超現實主義中「自動書寫」的自發性質，旨在突顯無意識狀態下的情緒起伏。這一點，在抽象表現主義代表人物德庫寧的作品中常有詳盡的體現，與之並觀，《無題》的線條結構疏密有致，其強烈的流動性及表現性與前者的繪畫手法不謀而合。畫面下半部線條緊密集中，厚重且粗獷，符合德庫寧七〇年代作品中躁動不安的線條結構，同時若從中國書畫的發展脈絡來看，亦響應藝術家國立藝專時期的國畫老師潘天壽「一味霸悍」之筆觸；畫面上半部，則相對平緩，流動性更強，營造沉浸式的感官體驗，呼應德庫寧八〇年代作品中平穩遊曳的彩帶狀線條，宋代大山水的輪廓如同驚鴻一瞥稀釋在色彩與線條的交織與並置中，內心情緒昇華成為畫面主導，擲地有聲而充滿韻律，正如德庫寧所言：「內容不過對某一事物的 一瞥之間，就像和閃電的遭遇。」