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Lot Essay
Since I used to play amidst the beautiful temples and pine trees or on the sandy beach, I have wanted to appreciate the best in nature and to be able to help everyone else to do so. KKAs I go forward I realize increasingly that it is not a matter of East or West, some day there will be Art from a New World Civilization, the creation of which, as a painter, I wish to contribute to. Art is a universal language that speaks to every human heart.
(Extract from Teng Chiu, "A Chinese Painter's Exhibition in Europe," Monitor, (August 1928), Museum School Library, Boston.)
Born in Xiamen, Fujian Province in 1903, Teng-Hiok Chiu had an opportunity to study aboard in 1920 due to his prestigious family background. He was an active member in the art circle of Europe and the United States. Chiu was the first foreigner to be granted the membership of Royal Society of British Artists. This auction features Chiu's early and mature work, which gives us significant materials to have an in-depth exploration of Chiu's artistic development. Painted in 1928, Scenery by the Lake (Lot 225) is regarded as an early work that shows his skillful techniques of naturalistic oil painting as well as his mastery in still-life compositions. In his painting, the sky and mountains faraway are tinged with faint purple blue when the night is approaching. With a wooden boat which is berthed alongside the lake, a truly magnificent and ethereal imagery is depicted.
Inspired by the training received in School of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Teng-Hiok Chiu not only pursued the goal of preciseness in portraying, but also the philosophy of art--the aesthetic perception of mind and moral. His effort in pursuing the above mentioned is doubtlessly cross-cultural and cross-racial. In China, art has long carried the function of social education, and also was used to build desirable characters and traditional thinking among people. Chiu reached the turning point of his artistic career in 1930 by working in the British Museum with his mentor Laurence Binyon, a renowned oriental art scholar. They worked hand in hand to analyse many significant Chinese calligraphy and paintings. Chiu has adopted the concept of multi-point perspective and the technique of directing viewers' gaze, which are both frequently used in Chinese landscape paintings. Also, he successfully presented an expansive panorama in his paintings. Vertical scroll landscape paintings usually contain streams, waterfall, or pathways, which guide the viewers throughout pictorial plane. Hand scroll paintings, at the same time, lead the viewers through the curvy paths of rocks, trees, streams and mountain ranges that are slowly unveiled as the work is being laid flat. Teng-Hiok Chiu has successfully adopted such techniques in his work, combined with his boundless imagination in colours and geometric shapes. In After Rain, Ullapool, Scotland (Lot 224), painted in 1936, Chiu adopted a bird's-eye view to capture the broad coastal horizon, with curly lines separating the sea and the coast. The use of different colours presents two focal points from separate layers. The first one concentrates on the deeply saturated building complex in the centre, which creates a great contrast with its light coloured surroundings and the depth of space. The second focal point lies in the pink, pale green and pale yellow blocks in the lower right corner. The curvy coastline directs the viewer's eye through the geometric shapes in the middle ground until it reaches the end of the coast. The sight soon turns into the mountain ranges and sets out on a journey to the endless sky and ocean. The landscape painting of Teng-Hiok Chiu fully captures the expansive scenery while still embodies the fine details for viewers to gaze upon. As we admire the remarkable scenery, the sincere affection towards nature grows from within.
(Extract from Teng Chiu, "A Chinese Painter's Exhibition in Europe," Monitor, (August 1928), Museum School Library, Boston.)
Born in Xiamen, Fujian Province in 1903, Teng-Hiok Chiu had an opportunity to study aboard in 1920 due to his prestigious family background. He was an active member in the art circle of Europe and the United States. Chiu was the first foreigner to be granted the membership of Royal Society of British Artists. This auction features Chiu's early and mature work, which gives us significant materials to have an in-depth exploration of Chiu's artistic development. Painted in 1928, Scenery by the Lake (Lot 225) is regarded as an early work that shows his skillful techniques of naturalistic oil painting as well as his mastery in still-life compositions. In his painting, the sky and mountains faraway are tinged with faint purple blue when the night is approaching. With a wooden boat which is berthed alongside the lake, a truly magnificent and ethereal imagery is depicted.
Inspired by the training received in School of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Teng-Hiok Chiu not only pursued the goal of preciseness in portraying, but also the philosophy of art--the aesthetic perception of mind and moral. His effort in pursuing the above mentioned is doubtlessly cross-cultural and cross-racial. In China, art has long carried the function of social education, and also was used to build desirable characters and traditional thinking among people. Chiu reached the turning point of his artistic career in 1930 by working in the British Museum with his mentor Laurence Binyon, a renowned oriental art scholar. They worked hand in hand to analyse many significant Chinese calligraphy and paintings. Chiu has adopted the concept of multi-point perspective and the technique of directing viewers' gaze, which are both frequently used in Chinese landscape paintings. Also, he successfully presented an expansive panorama in his paintings. Vertical scroll landscape paintings usually contain streams, waterfall, or pathways, which guide the viewers throughout pictorial plane. Hand scroll paintings, at the same time, lead the viewers through the curvy paths of rocks, trees, streams and mountain ranges that are slowly unveiled as the work is being laid flat. Teng-Hiok Chiu has successfully adopted such techniques in his work, combined with his boundless imagination in colours and geometric shapes. In After Rain, Ullapool, Scotland (Lot 224), painted in 1936, Chiu adopted a bird's-eye view to capture the broad coastal horizon, with curly lines separating the sea and the coast. The use of different colours presents two focal points from separate layers. The first one concentrates on the deeply saturated building complex in the centre, which creates a great contrast with its light coloured surroundings and the depth of space. The second focal point lies in the pink, pale green and pale yellow blocks in the lower right corner. The curvy coastline directs the viewer's eye through the geometric shapes in the middle ground until it reaches the end of the coast. The sight soon turns into the mountain ranges and sets out on a journey to the endless sky and ocean. The landscape painting of Teng-Hiok Chiu fully captures the expansive scenery while still embodies the fine details for viewers to gaze upon. As we admire the remarkable scenery, the sincere affection towards nature grows from within.