Back to list

Hu Chi-Chung

Hu Chi-Chung (胡奇中) born in 1927, China, Zhejiang , died in 2012, USA, Los Angeles.

Hu Chi-Chung came from a humble family that lived in a small mountain village, where he divided his time between fishing and hunting. He became interested in art at an early age; he drew in the sand, as he had no paper. He left his village and family when he was only thirteen years old. 

In 1948, during the war, he decided to go to Shanghai and enlist in the navy. Two years later, when he was still in the army, Hu Chi-Chung left mainland China and settled in Taiwan. During this period, he began to paint regularly. 

In 1954, a work-related trip to the United States had a decisive effect on his art. During the trip, he visited the de Young Museum in San Francisco and discovered the Impressionists and the abstract work of Willem de Kooning. The discovery of these genres marked a turning point in his pictorial approach and led him towards abstraction. 

In 1957, he founded the Four Seas Artists Association with his friend, Fong Chung-Ray, and then joined the Wuyue Group (Fifth Moon Group) in 1961. He experimented with various techniques, which included, in particular, the addition of sand to his oil paints. 

In 1967, he was selected to take part in the Carnegie International Exhibition 11 in Pittsburgh, along with other artists such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chuang Che, Chu Teh-Chun, and Richard Lin. 

He emigrated to the United States with his family in 1971 and settled in California, in the famous Carmel Village. 

His art, which borders on abstraction and combines bright colours, solar disks, and terrestrial forms, depicts dreamlike landscapes suffused with joy and vitality. 

Personal exhibitions

2017 Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong

1991 Contemporary Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1989 Ming Ren Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

1986 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1978 – 80 The Naples Art Gallery (Annual Exhibitions), Naples, Florida, USA

1975 The Eric, Inc. galleries, New York, USA

1974-1996 Zantman Galleries (Annual exhibitions), Palm Desert, California, USA

1973 Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, San Diego, California, United States

1972 -1996 Zantman Galleries (Annual exhibitions), Carmel, California, United States

1971 Laky Gallery, Carmel, California, United States

1969 Yu Fong Gallery, San Francisco, California, United States

S.H Mori Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1967 Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1964 Grand Hotel Club Room, Taipei, Taiwan

1958 Press Building, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Groups exhibitions

2017 From China to Taiwan, Pioneers of Abstraction, Ixelles Museum, Ixelles, Belgium

1983 Artists of the Rockies and Golden West 10 Year Retrospective Exhibition, Sangre de Cristo Arts and Convention Center, Pueblo, Colorado, USA

1974 Fifth Moon, The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Fifth Moon, Brooks Goldberger Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1973 Contemporary Chinese Painting and Prints, Denver Museum of Art, Denver, Colorado, USA

1971 Fifth Moon, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Fifth Moon, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

1970 Five Chinese Painters: Fifth Moon, National History Museum, Taipei, USA

2nd Painting Festival, Cagnes, France

1st Calligraphy and Paintings of the Republic of China, National Museum of History, Taipei, USA

The Pintura China Contemporanea, Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid, Spain

1969 ISPAA, National Art Center of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan

5th Young Artists Biennial, Seibu Department Store, Tokyo, Japan

1968 S.B. Nitikman Winnipeg Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada

Now Current Show, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D. C., USA

1967 9th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil

1966 10th Fifth Moon, Hai-Tien Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1965 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

Fifth Moon, The Presidential Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan

1st International Peace Art, City Hall, Fermo, Italy

The Chinese Modern Art Exhibition, Galleria del Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy

1964 8th Fifth Moon, Taiwan Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

Fifth Moon: Five Chinese Painters, Dominion Art Galleries, Sydney, Australia

1963 Contemporary Chinese Painting, Parrish Museum of Art, South Hampton, New York, USA

7th Fifth Moon, National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

7th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil

1961 5th Fifth Moon, Taiwan Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

6th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil

1960 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1959 1st Paris Biennial, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

6th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil

1952 1st Armed Forces Art, Taipei, Taiwan

Selected works