| Na01 |
Painting Irises
1993 screen print, 30x40." Taken from 1992 o/c.
In the late 1980s, the van Gogh painting "Irises" was purchased
at auction for the astronomical, record-breaking sum of $80 million. This
was a historical event in the art market. Yet how could this come to pass?
As Dr. Chen's image reveals, the painting is unfinished! Van Gogh, dressed
as an artist from Holland, is seated in a sunny Arles garden, still adding
dazzling, pure strokes of color to the canvas. We do not see his face,
hinting perhaps that the nature of the artist is less significant than
the nature of the art. Indeed, the greatest artist of all is obscured
from human vision, but with a divine hand, continues to add strokes of
color to the canvas known as Earth. ( brochure,
Fingerhurt Group Publisher's Inc. )
|
| Na02 |
Love
Above Confrontation
1993 screen print, 30x40. Taken from 1984 a/c.
A span of four centuries of changing values in artistic tradition electrifies
the air between Titian's "Venus with a Mirror" and Picasso's "Seated
Woman." The contemporary viewer can see the beauty in both icons, but
within their worlds, each woman argues for the authenticity of the stylistic
expression of her image. Locked in a moment of confrontation, the two do
not comprehend that another world exists that values and cherishes both
for their differences, not in spite of them. Through an open window, Chagall's
folkloric pair of lovers float high above the fray. They seem to advocate
"love above confrontation," and are enjoying the freedom that
only love can offer. ( brochure, Fingerhurt Group
Publisher's Inc. ) |
| Na03 |
Happy
Mme. Moitessier
1993 screen print, 40x30. Taken from 1992 o/c.
Between Cezanne's still life and Gauguin's Tahitian painting, Ingres'
"Mme. Moitessier" stands confident and serene. Her source of
happiness is twofold: her portrait hangs in a museum, enchanting thousands;
and she owns, within this frame of reference, two postimpressionist masterpieces.
In linear time, this would be impossible, since both works were produced
almost half a century after her death. But the imagination does not recognize
the boundaries of time and space. This intriguing arrangement playfully
revises history and demonstrates the depth of possibility in the postmodernist
art world. ( brochure, Fingerhurt Group Publisher's
Inc. )
|
| Na04 |
Wedding
Above the Village
Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night"
stands as one of his most representative artworks. Painted in June of 1889
at St. Remy, this majestic, vibrant work belongs to Expressionism, as it
depicts a highly emotionally charged vision of nature. We see a tumultuous
landscape of a valley in twilight, with a cypress tree in the shape of flame
and celestial bodies whirling about in wild, forceful curves, evoking a
vast space upon the horizon. Van Gogh seems to depict a cosmic symphony
of Beethoven's vehemence and virtuosity mysteriously playing out upon the
sky.
In Chen's version, the starry sky is replaced by an imaginative celestial
celebration, bursting with joy and merriment. The happy figures are derived
from Marc Chagall's "Song of Songs" (1960-66). On a brilliant
orange-red background, we see a honeymoon couple in the center, riding upon
a flying horse; to the left, a pair of newlyweds under a red canopy, and
a radiant disc accompanied by red and white birds appears on the upper right-hand
side. All of these animals, people, and objects frolic freely about in the
sky, as graceful and gay as trapeze artists.
This oil painting has been published in silkscreen by The Fingerhut Group
with the following statement:
Van Gogh's village of "The Starry Night," nestled deep in the
south of France, sleeps peacefully, unaware of the radiant field of energy
that enfolds it. Above the golden aura, the heavens sparkle with the sights
and sounds of a wedding ceremony. Marc Chagall's innocent and joyous angelic
figures celebrate the union, blessed with love, unfettered by human doubt
and frailty. They are awash in hot Oriental red, the color of good fortune.
This is a dream of supreme happiness, a magical moment bridging time and
space, reality and imagination. ( by T.
F. and Julie Chen ) |
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Don
Quixote Series
Don Quixote & Sancho Panza could not be held within the confines of
Western literature. Since Quixote tilted his first Spanish windmill four
centuries ago, they have invaded every culture and become international
legends. Dr. T.F. Chen first tilted with them in grammar school in Taiwan.
As he matured, Chen discovered Quixote's bite, wit, and wisdom, which became
more building blocks in his castle of panchromatic international Neo-Iconography,
of which he is the initiator/painter/philosopher/developer. In this series
of drawings, Chen has isolated Quixote and Sancho from other icons and presented
them with warm and friendly admiration. ( by Lawrence
Jeppson ) |
| Nc01 |
Fraternity
(Song of Gypsy)
Matisse: "Music", 1910. The Hermitage, Leningrad
H. Rousseau: "The Sleeping Gypsy", 1897. MOMA NY.
As he did in "Five Races In Harmony", Chen has used the five figures
from Matisse's Music to represent the five races of man. As with "Dance",
Matisse painted these figures all one color. They were also static , contemplative
, and serene. Chen has given each figure a bright, exaggerated color. From
left to right, white, black, red, yellow, brown. The brilliant blue sky
is Chen's, not Matisse's. In the foreground to these figures he has dropped
a fidel figure from Rousseau. The sleeping gypsy represents the poor and
the oppressed. They lie at the feet of all the races and require compassionate
help from a united humanity.
The bright horizontal stripes of the gypsy's robe and the vertical stripes
of her pillow pull the colors of the races and the background sky together
as firmly as a locknut in a bolt. Her musical instrument shows that she
- the disadvantaged - can be an integral part with the rest of a joyous
humanity. ( by Lawrence Jeppson ) |
| Nc02 |
Confrontation
Titian: "Venus with a Mirror", ca. 1555.
National Gallery, Washington D.C.
Picasso: "Seated Woman", 1937. Picasso's Museum, Paris.
In this print as well as in his paintings of the similar subject, Chen has
taken icons from Titian and Picasso.
In his silkscreen, modification in coloration and in many details is obvious,
but Chen respects the essential structure of the two icons. Moreover, Chinese
ideograms as well as English letters are employed here, not only for the
title in both languages but also for their decorative function to be integrated
as the frame.
The two, facing each other through a span of four centuries, remind us of
a whole continuum of change in artistic tradition. Venus gazed..... and
sees herself transformed by an idiom of another century. Or does Chen's
mirror now go the other way? Perhaps it is the Picasso woman who is puzzled
to see her transubstantiated by some trick! ( by
Lawrence Jeppson ) |
| Nc03 |
Venus and Shogun
Titian: "Venus of Urbino", 1538. Uffizi,
Florence
Gauguin: "Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)", 1892. National Gallery
of Art, Washington D.C.
Picasso: "Still Life", 1918. National Gallery of Art, Washington
D.C.
The samurais may be named "Toyota",
"Honda", "Sony" etc., Japanese industrial giants who
are rushing to the Western market, represented by the ample "Venus
of Urbino" by Titian, the enviable beauty. Where are the Knights?
( by T. F. Chen )
|
| Nc04 |
Dream
of Poor Lovers
Pablo Picasso: The Frugal Meal, etching, 1904.
Marc Chagall: The Green Violinist, 1918.
Caracaggio: Dessert. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Calling attention to Picasso's fabled blue and pink periods, Chen painted
the couple blue and rose. But they suffer illusions -- a sumptuous Caravaggio
feast of fruits and nuts, lots of wine; Chagall's green fiddler behind.
All is possible in their dreams. ( by Lawrence
Jeppson ) |
| Nc05 |
East
and West
Converging East and West, religion and science,
Chen uses the American landing on the Moon to symbolize the Western achievement;
while Gotama Buddha, a symbol of high spiritual insights of the East, represents
the universal law. No matter what human beings develop in technology, we
are still in God's hands. ( by Lawrence
Jeppson ) |
| Nc06 |
Harmony
of East and West
Matisse: "Harmony in Red", 1908-09. Museum
of Modern Western Art, Moscow
Hiroshige: "Fujisawa", Ukiyo-e
Taiwanese folkoric embroidery
Two Japanese ladies in kimono walking in the deep snow, cold and hungry.
Where are they going? They are going to the West, to the banquet prepared
by Matisse - a witness to East-West convergency, also to Western hospitality.
( by T. F. Chen ) |
| Nc07 |
Tokyo
(Edo) -- New York
Kuniyoshi: "Kasumigaseki" from "Famous
Spots in Edo"
Sharaku: "Matsumoto Koshiro IV as Gorobei the Fishmonger of Sanya"
Utamaro: " By the bridge at Ryogoku"
Silhouette of New York City
Beyond the street scene of the 18th century in Japan, floating upon the
water, is the gigantic silhouette of New York City. The rapidity of communication
today shortens the distance of East-West. Gliding birds and the rainbow
fragment suggest peace and harmony.
Time and space are united in this work, a charming example of our era of
universal civilization. ( by T. F. Chen
) |
| Nc08 |
Homage
to Matisse
Matisse: "Les Plumes Blanches", 1919. Minneapolis,
Institute of Art.
With Henri Matisse contemporary art in the West regained purity of color
and strength in line. With color so vivid and line so lyric , Matisse could
discard perspective in favor of two-dimensional composition.
For this serigraph Chen uses the three prime colors- the ABC of the color
plate: red, yellow, and blue- together with their combination to forms its
color background, a very theoretical exercise in color manifestation. As
for line, Chen intentionally employs a kind of Chinese style, which Matisse
was fond of, to enclose the outline of a lady from Matisse's Les Plumpes
Blanches and a bouquet of flowers.
Reduced to element in color and line, yet rich and harmonious, this serigraph
reminds us of Matisse's purity and splendor in color and line, eulogizing
the French artist's important contribution to modern art. (
by Lawrence Jeppson ) |
| Nc09 |
Homage to Picasso
( Please refer E03 )
|
| Nc10 |
Welcome
to Disneyland
Velasquez: "Las Meninas", 1656. Prado, Madrid
Sharaku: "Sakata Hangou IV"
Photo of Ted and Julie Chen, 1981
Balloons buoyant in the blue skies balance themselves above Mickey Mouse
and Maid of Honor, Coca-Cola, castles, and Chen. The ultimate American dream.....
perhaps only a dream after all. The Past is Present; the East meets West.....
all while the dog patiently waits for the next parade to begin. (
by Lawrence Jeppson ) |