Snow, an enduring visual symbol, is a philosophical subject associated with a wide range of imagery. Since ancient times, many masterpieces have been inspired by snow, and the ode to snow knows no cultural or national boundaries. In literature, the great Song-dynasty poet Su Shi imagined the flying snow in the wind as “jade dust”, whilst the modern American poet Robert Frost wrote: “Shook down on me / The dust of snow”, verses of timeless elegance expressed in language that is authentic and unadorned. Examples in fine art include the Northern Song dynasty renowned literati painting Wintry Grove in Snow. Renaissance master Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s representative work The Hunters in the Snow praised the virtue of truth through a wintry imagery seen through the eyes of a painting master. The poetry and complexity of these works did not come of fleeting moments of epiphany, but was instead achieved through dedicated cultivation over time, when the cycles of the four seasons could be thoroughly appreciated and experienced, bringing the creator’s mind to its absolute peak. Only then could such an expansive vision bring forth enduring masterpieces inspired by the harshest of wintry landscapes. Chu Teh-Chun, who lived in France for three decades, welcomed the pinnacle of his life’s achievements in the snowy domain.

Chu Teh-Chun’s “Snow Scene” series was born in 1985. These paintings showcase the artist’s mastery over the combination of Eastern and Western artistic concepts and techniques, conjuring enthralling images of wintry skies filled with heavy snow, and taking the artist’s golden era to new heights. Chu’s former classmate from their early days, Wu Guanzhong, was particularly moved by this series. In 1997, for a major solo exhibition, Chu Teh-Chun returned to his home country for the first time. Wu had been closely viewing Chu’s paintings in the show, before writing his review: “This is all the sorrow and good fortune accumulated in life, buried deep within the artist’s heart, suddenly breaking free, a display of the tracks and marks of his long artistic journey. White spots are blurred, not quite flowers and not quite mist, sending all matters of the mortal world to a distant domain, a boundless forest, a white and misty woodland of life.” For several decades, the two masters were oceans apart, yet their artistic connection remained strong; it was not just a snowy landscape that Wu felt in Chu’s paintings, but rather a transcendent state of being Chu displayed through dedicating life’s glory to art. Chu Teh-Chun had a gentle temperament. His paintings not only revealed these delicate qualities but also something decisive and expansive. The yin and yang balance appears on full display in his “Snow Scene” series. Harmonie hivernale (Lot 1020) presented by Sotheby’s this season is Chu’s first museum-grade triptych masterpiece depicting a snow scene. In this representative work, the artist’s supreme talent and unrelenting spirit are revealed, demonstrating the extraordinary breadth and depth of the artist’s inspirations from nature. It is truly a milestone masterwork in Chu’s artistic career, which spanned more than six decades.

According to available data, there are only eight groups of large format polyptychs in Chu Teh-Chun’s “Snow Scene” series. Harmonie hivernale is one of the only three triptychs depicting snow scenes, as well as the only triptych depicting a snowscape to appear at auction from a private collector. In the three decades since the 1990s, when auction records for Chu Teh-Chun first became available, only three diptychs depicting snow scenes have appeared at auction. In particular, La forêt blanche II and Vertige Neigeux, sold in 2012 and 2016 respectively, both setting new world records for the artist at the time of the sales. Market performance of Chu Teh-Chun’s polyptychs has been exceptional, a testament to the series’ prowess. As the first triptych in this series to appear in an auction, Harmonie hivernale is set to go down in history as another legend.

Harmonie hivernale was also Chu’s first snowscape masterpiece exhibited in major international museums.In 1986, the same year the work was completed, Harmonie hivernale was sent to Privas in France for the artist’s solo exhibition. It was the first public appearance of a triptych from this series since Chu’s snowscapes first began in 1985. In that sense, one might even consider it as a launching exhibition for the “Snow Scene” series. Both in terms of composition and format, Harmonie hivernale had no rival in its time, hence establishing the series’ status. Unusually, it was photographed when the artist attended the exhibition’s opening. The next time Harmonie hivernale appeared in public was 2009, when the Suzhou Museum celebrated its 50^th anniversary. The museum invited Chu Teh-Chun to select three large-format polyptychs to be exhibited, and the present lot was among the three. Chu’s selection suggests the importance the artist placed on this treasured work over the years. Today, Harmonie hivernale shines in the global auction platform, and no doubt all eyes will be on the masterpiece during Sotheby’s Modern Art Evening Sale.

In recent years, Sotheby’s has achieved a string of remarkable auction results for the artist, further strengthening Chu Teh-Chun’s historical position and academic value. In Spring 2018, Rouge lourd et vert leger sold for 61 million HKD, a new artist’s record for his works from the 1950s. In Autumn that year, No. 268 was sold for 75 million HKD, a new artist’s record for his words from the 1960s. Last year marked the centenary of the birth of Chu Teh-Chun, and Sotheby’s presented Les éléments confédérés, the artist’s only pentaptych and an important masterpiece. In that historical moment, the work sold for 114 million HKD, setting a new world record and exceeding the 100 million mark for the first time. Also during 2020, the Chu Teh-Chun Foundation also announced that a major international touring retrospective exhibition would be held in the Autumn of 2021, with the first stop at the National Museum of China in Beijing featuring more than 100 works. It is at this landmark moment that Sotheby’s presents Chu’s triptych masterpiece Harmonie hivernale.

The subject of Chu Teh-Chun’s “Snow Scene” series came from the Alps, but inspiration did not come from a fleeting moment of insight, but represents the culmination of decades-long tangible experiences. Chu Teh-Chun grew up in Baituzhen of the Anhui province, and his hometown was surrounded by mountains. Such a natural environment gave the artist an intuitive sense of a mountain’s formations, and throughout his entire artistic career, he had returned again and again to the subject. In the 1930s, when Chu Teh-Chun studied at the National School of Arts in Hangzhou, he frequently travelled together with his classmate Wu Guanzhong to paint the natural landscape. Jiangnan was nature’s very own great hall of inspirations, an artist’s muse from mother nature. With time, the artist became increasingly enlightened by the profound beauty of the natural environment. From 1949 to 1955, Chu Teh-Chun moved to Taiwan to take up a teaching position. During this period, he continued to visit the countryside for inspirations. Indeed it was in Taichung’s scenic Basianshan area where the artist came to understand the unique rhythmic qualities between the tangible and abstract in traditional Chinese ink paintings. These earlier experiences bore great significance for his later works inspired by nature. In France, Chu Teh-Chun further broadened his horizons by visiting various well-known places of natural beauty. In 1965, he was invited to participate in an art festival in Haute-Savoie. During the trip, he climbed the Mont Blanc which left him completely awestruck. From mid-1960s, Chu Teh-Chun started incorporating different shades of white into his compositions, and though he continued the exploration during the 1970s a major breakthrough did not come until 1985, when he travelled to Geneva to take part in the Five Abstract Painters exhibition. On his return, Chu journeyed by train across the Alps during a heavy snowstorm. That sight made a deep impression on the artist, lingering in his mind for two decades. The images, at first in fragments, ultimately came together in stirring creativity to form the foundation of his “Snow Scene” series.

The snowscape paintings from the 1960s and 70s mainly expressed his impression of the scenic beauty of the snowy mountains, and his expressive approach leaned towards the symbolic capturing of form. Through to the 1980s, Chu Teh-Chun incorporated the phenomenon of heavy snow in the wind into his paintings, creating compositions that drew upon the artist’s natural preoccupation and references to the ever-changing forms in nature. They expressed the endless vitality of the natural world whilst reflecting a philosophy of a thriving cosmos, conveying the artist’s profound vision of nature.

Chu Teh-Chun began studying art at a young age in 1935, travelled to France to follow his dreams in 1955, and commenced his immensely successful “Snow Scene” series in 1985. It has been half a century of reinvention for Chu’s art, as he continued in search of a unique creative approach. Looking back at his stylistic changes since the 1950s, one can trace the various points at which Chu turned towards abstract art, with many ground-breaking achievements that were inspired by generations of forebearers. In 1965, not long after he reached Paris, Chu Teh-Chun visited the retrospective of Russian abstract master Nicolas de Staël. Greatly inspired by Nicolas de Staël’s freely expressive approach, Chu departed from figurative art and began his golden era of Lyrical Abstractionism, with French pioneers such as Georges Mathieu, Hans Hartung, and Zao Wou-Ki among his peers. In 1969, he went to Amsterdam for a Rembrandt retrospective that commemorated the 300^th anniversary of the old master’s death, and Chu was deeply moved. The mysterious source of light in the old master’s paintings led the way on Chu’s own journey to create his dramatic mingling of light and shadows, which contributed to his approach post 1970s. There is a saying in Chinese painting tradition that learning from nature ranks above learning from predecessors. Chu’s “Snow Scene” series, born in the 1980s, echoes that sentiment. Through the snowscapes, the artist came to understand the philosophy of nature, and arrived at the third major breakthrough of his artistic career.

Chu Teh-Chun’s art evolved from figurative landscape to abstract nature, and the development was closely connected to his personal experience in the 1980s. In 1982, his first ever solo exhibition at the Musée d'art moderne André Malraux was held, a landmark achievement signaling his position as a major artist in the West and the prestige he enjoyed. In the following year, he was invited by the Chinese University of Hong Kong to serve as an external examiner. Invited by the Beijing Artist’s Association, he returned to visit his home country after a long absence of three decades. During the visit, he was inspired by the majesty of Chinese landscapes, and upon returning to his studio in Paris commenced his work on a 6.5-meter wide pentaptych Les éléments confédérés, a revival of grandeur of the lush, green Tang dynasty landscape paintings. The work went on to become a pillar of his artistic achievements. Two years later, the artist experienced that journey through a snowstorm in the Alps and created Harmonie hivernale. The painting captured the carefree boldness of Western action painting, thus scaling yet another artistic peak.

The sources of inspirations for Les éléments confédérés and Harmonie hivernale were not quite the same, and the differences can perhaps be seen as the duality between East and West. In terms of opportunities for Chu Teh-Chun, both masterpieces carry profound symbolic significance: the subject of Les éléments confédérés comes from the Chinese panoramas. Painted at a time when the artist returned to China after travelling overseas for many years, the painting is a stirring tribute to his motherland, and a reflection that he has never forgotten his very own cultural origin. On the other hand, Harmonie hivernale was inspired by European glaciers, and the work is filled with the artist’s sense of admiration for his second home.It showed his gratitude for having been welcomed by a foreign culture over the years. The two masterpieces were completed in the 1980s, their compositions share the artist’s iconic, expansive horizontal perspective. The two paintings, one relating to his origin and one to his subsequent life journeys, one East and one West, form an intriguing, balanced pair of proud domains. They serve as a metaphor for the artist’s glorious era as he soared between the two worlds, both applauding his artistic achievement with fervour.

As the viewer examines the surging snowstorm in Chu Teh-Chun’s painting, the scene may evoke a sense of the ruthless blizzards depicted by 19^th century Romantic master J. M. W. Turner. In particular, Turner’s timeless classic Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps depicts human resilience against unforgiving weather, which may inspire wonder at nature’s formidable power. In contrast with Turner’s evocation of fear and resistance against nature, Chu’s Harmonie hivernale reveals a philosophy that transcends visceral emotions and invites a harmonic integration with nature, arguably a more profound philosophical subject. Another master in depicting snowscapes was Impressionist master Claude Monet. In Monet’s Snow at Argenteuil, the snow scene is one of quiet tranquillity, which attempts to depict objectively the fleeting lights and shadows in nature. Chu’s abstract snow scene on the other hand depicts both the physical and the emotional, in turns uniting the internal and the external, harmonising the objective and the subjective.

Turner, Monet, and Chu’s interpretations of the snow scene all reflect stages of artistic revolutions. Turner’s paintings elevated snow scene paintings from purely figurative to a relatively abstract approach in depicting nature, a ground-breaking move for Western fine art that had been until then mainly focused on realistic depictions. However, Turner’s subjects remained within the narrative principles of Classical art. Monet, on the other hand, broke free from the constraints of academic art to prove that the function of art is not limited to religious, mythical or historical narratives, but can also be an expression of contemporary life. In terms of technique, Monet followed an objective, scientific perspective. Both Romantic or Impressionist art remained within the constraints of time and physics, whilst Chu’s snow scenes completely departed from the imitation of nature. In his paintings, he pursued a timeless philosophical spirituality, transcending what one can see or touch. For Chu Teh-Chun, abstract painting was not merely a process of simplification. It explored and developed layer by layer a method, in technique and in ideas, to transform forms into formless whilst representing forms with the formless. This achieved a subliminal state described in Daoist philosophical concept that “grand phenomena have no form”.

After World War II, Western artists in their intense disillusionment turned away from the pursuit of beauty. Emerged in Europe was Art Informel, which promoted a philosophy against traditional senses of aesthetics and went on to inspire Abstractionism. In America, Action Painting declared a similar desire in the subversion of forms. In their exploration of abstract art, some Western artists would discover the potential of calligraphy. For instance, Jackson Pollock developed the dripping technique by placing a large canvas on the ground, while Pierre Soulages used black brushstrokes to create unique domains. From the same period, abstract masters such as Willem de Kooning, Sam Francis and Jean-Paul Riopelle active in Europe and America all found inspiration from Eastern calligraphy. Gestural paintings reflect the most contemporary post-war approach. British art historian Herbert Read wrote in A Concise History of Modern Painting that “Abstract Expressionism, the exciting movement in Modern Art, is but an extension and elaboration of Calligraphic Expressionism which has a close relationship with the Oriental art of calligraphy.”

In the 1950s, Chu Teh-Chun arrived in Paris at a time when the wave of Abstractionist art was at its peak. With a profound understanding in Eastern culture, he realized that calligraphy offered an important opportunity for the East and the West to reach an aesthetic common ground befitting modern times. Abstract art values freedom, exceeding boundaries of time, geography and media. The Wild Cursive style in Chinese calligraphy would find its echoes throughout art history. Post-war Abstract paintings in the West sought to break away from an aesthetic philosophy in which realistic depiction was key, whilst Chu’s oil painting reflected the xieyi (freely expressive) calligraphic style, at the same time promoting the liberation of Eastern art from its own traditional constraints to integrate with modern ideas.

Since the 1950s and 60s, artists began to incorporate calligraphy techniques into abstract art. In the compositions of the 1980s “Snow Scene” series, the expressions of lines were not limited to the superficial forms, the clashing lines, full of dramatic tension, in the past gave way to new, fluid rhythms, within which the metaphor was fundamentally different from the anti-art nature of Western abstract paintings. Abstract Expressionist art led by Jackson Pollock valued the unrestrained expression of subjective feelings, as liberal splashes of colours on the canvas broke free from all possibilities to interpret any object or phenomenon, allowing the viewer to focus on the purely personal release of emotions by the artist. In Harmonie hivernale, Chu’s splashes of white pigments were just as carefree and expressive, powerful Running Script calligraphy gave rise to the majestic forms of grand mountains. Although the techniques were similar, the approach was different. Expressed in Chu’s paintings was an organic and unburdened state of being in which the self was forgotten. Eastern painting had always followed an aesthetic philosophy in which the subjective and the objective were integrated, whilst traditional Eastern landscape paintings usually employed a multi-point perspective. In every step and every scene, the external world and one’s own self merged together, reflecting the Daoist idea of mortal and nature becoming one. Chu’s paintings also pursue the harmonic coexistence with nature, and such spirituality was cultivated over decades of reflection, profoundly expressed in Harmonie hivernale.

Modern oil painting offers endless potentials. Chu Teh-Chun ingeniously manipulated the thickness or concentration of the oil pigment to create the five-colour effect in ink and wash paintings, to differentiate mountains that are distant or near. This was also combined with dripping, flowing and splashing techniques to create a scene of flying snow, resulting in a perfect aesthetic embodiment of yin-and-yang symbiosis. Beyond black and white, the artist also mixed in pale colours when creating Harmonie hivernale, referencing the fundamental five elements of the cosmos; white, green, black, red, and yellow correspond to metal, wood, water, fire and earth, each interacting and balancing each other on the canvas. Chu Teh-Chun’s grand vision went beyond natural inspirations – nature was analysed and the natural order was followed. From Eastern cosmic philosophy, a grand vision was distilled. Chu’s vision traces its source to an ancient Chinese philosophical system of yin and yang and the five elements, whilst through the medium of oil painting, the artist discovers a fresh, modern interpretation.

French poet and art critic Jean-Clarence Lambert once commented that Chu was “a painter of fire – of Air and Fire, with, besides, something indefinable to which pertains that particular mystery, that personal magic power qualifying him as an unparalleled figure in a general survey of Ecole de Paris … Chu Teh-Chun’s painting conveys lyrical meditation about the world seen as a living, moving, boundless space, through which each single painting cuts out a full area where man and the element enter into an agreement.” Lambert’s discovery of elements in Chu ‘s works, echoes with the composition of Harmonie hivernale, in which we observe the coexistence of Five Elements. The author used “fire” as a metaphor for the artist’s personality as expressed in his passionate brushstrokes. Even though the current lot depicts a snow scene, viewers can still feel the vigorous vitality of the universe from within.

Chu Teh-Chun attracted the attention from the international art scene with his new Snow Scene series in the 1980s. He successively held solo exhibition at many important museums, and numerous group shows in various locations, all of these paved the way for his election as the first Chinese-French academician of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of France.

「雪」是歷久彌新的視覺符號、意象豐富的哲思對象，自古以來流傳的人文經典作品眾多，對雪之禮讚並無分文化國界：文學上既有宋代詞聖蘇軾所寫的「天風淅淅飛玉沙」，亦有美國現代詩人羅伯特・佛洛斯特的詩句：「雪塵坍塌 落在我處」，以樸實無華的文字，傳遞著雋永高雅的涵義；藝術上更有北宋名家范寬的名畫《雪景寒林圖》，以及文藝復興大師老彼得・布勒哲爾的經典著作《雪中獵人》，透過畫家的巨眼建構冬日意境，在積雪深處折射出真理的光輝。以上提到的雪景作品，之所以具有深邃的詩詞意藴或繪畫意境，不是大師們忽然獲得神來之筆，隨意點染成妙境，而是經過長期醞釀的結晶，歷盡春夏秋冬、閱遍風花雪月，當思想精神處於巔峰狀態時，方有廣闊胸襟抵禦寒雪，成就不同凡響的雪域絕唱——旅法三十年的華人藝術家朱德群，亦是在大雪中迎來圓滿人生四季的盛世巔峰。

朱德群的「雪景系列」誕生於1985年，畫中展現藝術家融貫東西藝術觀念與技法之長的非凡造詣，瑞雪漫天飛舞的畫面教人驚豔，將其創作事業的黃金時期推往高峰。昔日的同窗吳冠中，對雪景系列的感受尤為深刻，適逢朱德群於1997年首次回歸祖國舉辦大型畫展，在朱氏畫中那一片晶瑩琉璃的白色世界跟前細賞半晌，回去便動筆撰寫一篇動人的展評《燕歸來——喜迎朱德群畫展》：「畫家任性揮灑，繪出了繁雜多樣、虛實夢幻、喜怒奔放……這一切其實均係人生經歷中所積澱的哀怨與幸運，一朝衝破內心深處的幕紗，展示出作者漫長藝術生涯的軌跡與烙印。白點濛濛，非花非霧，將人間萬象推向遙遠，那遙遠是無際森林，白茫茫的人生森林。」兩位大師曾分隔彼岸數十載，惟在創作之上依然惺惺相惜；吳冠中在畫中所看到的、所感悟的，不只是單純的一幕雪景，更是朱德群將生命的光華傾注於繪畫中的崇高境地。朱德群為人溫潤如玉，待人接物如沐春風，其繪畫不僅表露筆者的溫婉細膩，同時亦展現大刀闊斧的雄偉氣魄，一陰一陽、剛柔並重的特質，尤其在雪景系列中透徹融匯，交織成一曲響徹雲霄的生命弦歌。蘇富比本季呈獻之《盛世雪》（拍品編號1020），是朱德群首幅博物館級別之雪景系列三聯鉅作，畫中完美體現藝術家本人傲雪凌霜的才情睿智，畫面陣陣瑞意來襲皚皚白峰，盡顯腕底乾坤以自然為師之博大精深，誠然是朱德群超過一甲子的藝術生涯中至為關鍵的曠世宏幅之一。

據藝術家主要畫冊和拍賣紀錄的資料統計，朱德群的雪景系列巨幅多聯屏作品僅有八組，而《盛世雪》更是僅僅兩組雪景三聯屏之其一，亦是唯一一件從私人藏家手中割愛亮相拍場之雪景三聯鉅作。從1990年有朱德群拍賣記錄以來至今的三十年間，僅得三幅雪景雙聯屏出現過拍場，其中《白色森林之二》及《雪霏霏》更分別於2012年及2016年創下當時藝術家全球拍賣記錄；朱德群雪景多聯屏在市場上締造斐然成績，是此系列超卓絕倫的最佳印證，而作爲此系列首幅亮相拍場之三聯作，《盛世雪》定必再創雪景傳奇！

《盛世雪》更是首幅擁有全球重要博物館展覽履歷之雪景鉅製，實爲千金難求的珍稀瑰寶。在本作誕生的同一年（1986年），隨即被送往法國普里瓦斯參與藝術家個展，該展應為朱德群自1985年開展雪景系列以來，首度有此系列的三聯屏公開亮相，可稱之為首發博物館展覽，而《盛世雪》不論構圖或尺幅皆冠絕一時，為深受青睞的雪景系列奠定經典，亦罕有地攝於當年藝術家出席開幕式的珍貴照片中；在此之後，朱德群在世界各地受邀參展無數，但《盛世雪》再次公開登場時已是2009年，其時適逢蘇州博物館成立五十週年，該館特邀朱德群親自遴選包括本作在內的三幅多聯巨作出展，足見藝術家對本作的珍視程度始終不渝；時至今日終於首現拍場，在蘇富比現代藝術晚間拍賣的國際舞台上，享譽盛世榮華。

近年，蘇富比為朱德群的藝術市場創下連串輝煌佳績，進一步鞏固藝術家的歷史地位與學術價值：2018年春季，《紅肥綠瘦》以六千一百萬港幣創下藝術家五〇年代作品拍賣紀錄；同年秋季， 《第268號構圖》再以七千五百萬港幣創下藝術家六〇年代作品拍賣紀錄；2020年，適逢朱德群誕辰百周年紀念，蘇富比有幸呈獻藝術家的頂尖重要藏品，其畢生唯一所創之巨幅五聯屏《自然頌》，於春季以一億一千四百萬港幣勇破全球拍賣紀錄，並首度衝闖億元大關，成爲大師展現百年風采之珍罕鉅獻，勢如破竹，創造傳奇歷史新標杆。在這一載譽滿歸的百歲年，朱德群基金會同時宣佈將於2021年秋季，為朱德群舉行大型全球巡迴回顧展，而首站即於北京中國國家博物館展出逾百件作品；恰逢如此重要契機，蘇富比隆重呈獻朱德群終極罕貴之雪景三聯鉅作《盛世雪》，引領各界全面聚焦藝術家獨步一時的美學價值，確立其大師獨尊之位。

朱德群的創作靈感大多源自壯遊江山的經歷，隨著世界各地的展覽邀請不絕，藝術家亦趁機遊歷當地，深入體驗歐洲各大名勝，並藉著那山川靈秀之氣，沉澱出意藴無窮的視覺感受，供給畫布多多益善的養分。朱德群素來景仰北宋著名畫家郭熙，其主張的「其要妙欲奪其造化，則莫神於好，莫精於勤，莫大於飽游飫看，歷歷羅列於胸中」早已嫻熟於心頭，當中心繫自然的法則乃塑成藝術家浩瀚宇宙觀的主軸，而他的創作養分正是源於到處遊歷所獲的澎湃靈感，從世間變幻無常中體悟闡明萬物之道。朱德群的雪景系列取材自阿爾卑斯山，卻並非只是乍現於一時的靈感所致，而是切實地經歷過長達半生的沉澱與淬煉。

朱德群成長於安徽蕭縣白土鎮， 該處地理四面環山，兒時常在山林間遊玩，自然造就藝術家對於山勢造型的敏感觸覺，而「山」此一題材亦從此成為貫穿其畢生創作的一份執著；到三〇年代，朱德群於杭州藝專求學時，經常結伴同窗吳冠中一起四處寫生，江南水鄉本是一座天然孕育的繆思殿堂，夏日研究樹影婆娑、冬日則欣賞西湖飄雪，逐漸敞開藝術家對於造化大美的眼界；1949年至1955年旅法深造前的數年間，朱德群移居台灣擔任教職，期間也不忘外出寫生採風，從雲霧飄渺的八仙山上，領悟到歷代水墨畫中呈現山峰深谷的虛實節奏——這幾段前期經歷，均對後來出自朱德群筆下的自然景象有著重要啟示。朱德群旅法以後更進一步提升眼界，積極遊覽各大名川；1965年，朱德群受邀前往法國薩瓦地區參加鄉村藝術節，期間有緣登上有歐洲屋脊之稱的白朗峰，首次於阿爾卑斯山上俯瞰白雪皚皚的山脈，讓藝術家感到無比震撼；是次經歷在其爾後所畫的作品中亦有跡可循，自六〇年代中期起，朱德群便開始嘗試將不同色階的白色融入畫面，構造冰雪蓋地而來的雪山意境，又在七〇年代重遊山區並持續精研，卻始終未獲得重大突破。直至1985年，朱德群赴瑞士日內瓦參加〈五個抽象畫家聯展〉，回程途中乘火車經過阿爾卑斯山時遇上暴風雪，眼前的此番雪虐風饕的絕景使其內心撼動不已——雪花紛飛的情景，在其腦海中縈繞二十載，終於在再度親臨雪山之際，從零碎的印象昇華而至推動筆尖激昂飛騰的創意，最終塑成雪景系列的深厚底蘊。

「今我來思，雨雪霏霏」，出自《詩經・小雅・采薇》的這一句，尤其能夠體現藝術家此刻無比悸動的心緒。《盛世雪》完成於1986年，將醞釀多年的情感傾盤而出，熱情地訴諸廣闊的畫面之上，讓觀者無不為之動容。在六、七〇年代的雪山風景作品中，畫面所呈現的是記憶中雪山上風光明媚的印象，表現手法傾向於符號性的形象吸納；而至八〇年代的雪景系列中，藝術家將漫天風雪的自然現象入畫，構圖呼應了自然界瞬息萬變的形態，捕捉了透明的空氣、凛冽的寒風、潮濕的融雪，繼而超脫視界層面，以抽象的筆展現大自然源源無窮的生命力，反映天地萬物生生不息的生命哲學，傳達著立意高遠的山水境界。

朱德群自1935年以稚齡開始學藝、1955年隻身遠赴法國圓夢，至1985年開展顛倒眾生的雪景系列，其深明從事藝術並無一步登天之道，半世紀以來無所間斷的創新求變，尋覓屬於自己的藝術之道。回顧朱德群自五〇年代以來的風格轉折，會發現其投身抽象語言的契機，以至後來屢獲突破，均是受到了歷代前人之藝途所啟發：1956年，初抵巴黎不久的朱德群參觀於巴黎現代藝術博物館舉行的俄裔抽象大師德史岱爾回顧展，深受其自由奔放的表現手法所啟迪，繼而捨棄具象的束縛，進入了抒情抽象主義的輝煌時代，與喬治・馬修、漢斯・哈同、趙無極等法國現代先鋒齊名；1969年，朱德群前往阿姆斯特丹參觀倫勃朗逝世三百周年回顧展後大為感動，古典大師筆下充滿靈性與深度的神秘光源，引領藝術家重新檢視創作的本義無非為體現生命光華，其畫中逐漸抹去了過往以畫刀劃劃深刻、疊疊厚重的分割形體，取而代之的是戲劇性的光影交融、崇尚自然的光色效應，促成其七〇年代以後的風格發展。然而，朱德群的藝術高度並未止於效法前人、再造經典，北宋名家范寛即曾提出：「師古人不如師造化」，而誕生於八〇年代的雪景系列正正引證此話箇中玄機，藝術家從無盡雪境中悟出環環相扣、川流不息的自然哲理，終於獲得了藝術生涯中第三次重大突破。

朱德群的藝術漸漸從「風景」昇華至「山水」的格局，與其八〇年代的人生經歷不無關係：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，標誌著其在西方藝壇已躍登現代大師之位，聲望如日中天；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，以旅居海外華人藝術家的身分重遊闊別三十多年的故國， 創造其正式回歸東方的契機；在此期間，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，便馬上開展了寬達六米半的五聯屏巨製《自然頌》，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；兩年以後，朱德群遇上在西方歷史上悠久稱霸的阿爾卑斯山暴風雪，觸發其詠雪抒懷，成就《盛世雪》，畫面擷取西方行動畫派的豪邁放逸，再創另一座屹然不屈的藝術巔峰。

壯遊大江南北以後，山水的構造靈感在朱德群的筆下越見清晰，《自然頌》與《盛世雪》創作靈感不盡相同，可視為東方與西方的二元對比，而就朱德群此時的發展機遇而言，兩件鉅作擁有更深層的象徵意義：《自然頌》取材自東方群山絕境，代表著朱德群遊歷海外數十載後終於回歸祖國，並以慷概激昂的心情致敬故土，反映其從未忘懷自身文化血脈的源頭，而《盛世雪》取景自歐洲最美冰川，則飽含著藝術家對第二故鄉的致敬情懷，藉此作感激異國多年來給予無限的包容與靈感；兩作於八〇年代先後誕生，構圖均採取一貫磅礴的橫向視界，一東一西、一源一流的山水表現，築成一對平衡的得意境地，寓意藝術家縱橫馳騁兩地、贏盡雙方藝壇喝采的盛世降臨。《自然頌》比本作面世稍早，其時藝術家的自信顯然已臻於鼎盛，駕馭巨型油畫的能力也驟然大増，以致於1986年創作長約四米的《盛世雪》時，筆桿所承載的浩蕩氣魄也是信手拈來，揮灑著的一筆一劃早已在心中成形，將積澱半生的感悟直抒胸臆，留下一幕雋永雪景。

朱德群筆下的雪景是情勢洶湧的鵝毛大雪，久望之下猶如置身其中，聆聽那寒風瑟瑟，惹人凜然生畏，讓人聯想到十九世紀英國浪漫主義大師威廉・透納筆下衝擊視覺、顫動人心的無情風暴，尤其是其驚世名作《暴風雪・漢尼拔大軍穿越阿爾卑斯山》裡所畫，人類竭力抵禦暴風雪肆虐的狂放狀態，惹人不禁驚嘆大自然的奇妙威力。透納的畫作著眼於引起觀者對顛覆、毀滅的惶恐感受，以及人類與自然的對抗與對立，但朱德群在《盛世雪》中所表達的，則是超越恐懼、融入自然，以至道法自然的人生觀，當中題旨可謂更具哲學深度。繼透納之後，另一位精於描繪雪景的當數印象派大師克勞德・莫內，舉《阿讓特伊的雪》爲例，其所創造的雪景靜謐無邊，筆者的主觀情感抽離畫面，並企圖客觀地描繪自然中的瞬息光影，而朱德群的抽象雪景在表現物象之上，亦滲透生動的主觀情懷，作品因而昇華至心物一元、主客相融的意象之境。

綜上所述，從透納、莫内到朱德群，雪景的詮譯經過了三種層次的時代改革：透納的創作從風景提升至表現較爲抽象的自然現象，為一向以寫實為主的西方藝術創下突破，然而他的題材始終圍繞古典主義的敘事性原則；莫内主張的印象主義掙脫學院派的桎梏，引證藝術的功能除了敘述宗教、神話與歷史主題之外，亦能夠體現當下生活、記錄現代繁華，技法上則順應客觀的科學觀點；然而不論是浪漫主義的史詩敘事，或是印象派的瞬息萬變，皆有著時間性、物理性的局限，而朱德群站在前人的肩膀上，其雪景創作完全脫離「模仿自然」的繪畫風格，畫中所追求的是一種永恆的哲學精神性，超越眼所看見、手所觸及，並賦予抽象雪景豐富獨到的氣質内涵，可謂一步一步開拓新境，造就難以逾越的藝術高度。對於朱德群而言，抽象繪畫並不只是一個抽絲剝繭的簡化過程，而是從技法到觀念上的層層深入拓展與延伸，化有形為無形，以無形現有形，創造「大象無形」的極致境界。

二戰以後，歐洲各個城市百廢待興，戰爭的粗暴橫蠻粉碎了精緻文明的虛飾偽善，此時代的藝術家對追尋「美」感到厭惡、對人性的本質徹底失望；在歐洲興起的不定形藝術宣揚「反美學」的前衛思想，亦啓發了後來的抽象主義，與遠在彼岸的美國行動畫派共同宣示著對於顛覆形式的極力渴求。一些西方藝術家在探索抽象表現手法的過程中，發現了書法藝術的巨大潛力，如傑克遜・波洛克將巨型畫布置於地上發展出「滴漏」技法、皮耶・蘇拉吉塗刷純粹的墨黑空間，同年代的還有威廉・德・庫寧、山姆・弗朗西斯、讓–保羅・利奧佩爾等分別活躍於歐美的抽象大師們，均不約而同地從東方書道裡獲得了形式上的啟發，統稱為動勢繪畫成為最具時代性的戰後藝術風格。英國著名藝術史學家赫伯特・里德在《現代繪畫簡史》中所寫到：「西方繪畫中的『抽象表現主義』作為一個藝術運動，不過是書法這種表現主義的擴展與苦心經營而已，它與東方書法藝術有着密切的關聯……一個新的繪畫運動已經崛起，這個運動至少部份也是直接受到中國書法的啟示。」

這些西方藝術家們在畫中踴躍表現線條的律動感，行筆隨意而率性，並融合繪畫表演的即興特性，將揮毫潑彩的動勢過程凝結於畫面之上，直接傳遞自身情感的强度，以激發觀者的無限想象。朱德群於五〇年代抵達巴黎，正值此波抽象浪潮最爲蓬勃之時，其本著東方文化的素養底蘊，頓悟書法藝術乃東、西方尋找現代美學共識的重大契機：抽象表現主義崇尚自由，與中國狂草書法的奔放胸懷，產生了跨越時代、地域、媒介的共鳴；戰後抽象繪畫之於西方，意義在於突破千年來以「寫實」為主導的美學概念，而朱德群以油彩體現書法的「寫意」精神，同時亦是促使東方藝術從傳統中解放、與現代思維結合的挑戰與改革。

朱德群的藝術，看似深受西方現代風潮所薰陶，但其受教於東方文化的底蘊，卻始終掌握著其筆墨之魂。自五、六〇年代起，藝術家已開始將書法技法融入抽象風格，隨著往後的藝術哲學修為更進一竿，在八〇年代雪景系列的空間構成中，書法線條的發揮已不止於表面上的形式吸納，過往張力十足的線條碰撞，逐漸演變成氣韻流暢、剛柔並濟的律動節奏，而當中所傳遞的寓意觀念，與西方抽象繪畫的「反藝術」本質存在著根本性的不同：以波洛克為首的抽象表現主義崇尚主觀感受的率性而為，藝術家在畫布上揮灑、潑甩大量顏料，縱横交錯的點與線擺脫一切闡釋物象的可能，讓觀者聚焦創作者「唯我」的情感宣泄；朱德群在《盛世雪》中潑灑噴薄飛雪白彩時同樣肆意，壯闊的山嶽形勢亦有賴其蒼勁的行草筆法，技法雖相近，道法卻不一，畫中所呈現的是「無我」、「忘我」的逍遙境界。

追本溯源，東方繪畫一向遵從主客相融的審美觀，山水畫的佈局多以「散點透視」的方式呈現，一步一景，物我交融，反映道家思想中「天地與我並生，萬物與我為一」的博大精深；人與自然的協調與統一，是為中國審美系列的基礎原理。朱德群的作品往往亦是在追求一種與自然和諧共生的精神性，此乃其窮盡半生體悟陰陽哲學才得之處世智慧，並深刻地體現在《盛世雪》之中。

朱德群以油彩塑造峻峭雪峰，氣勢直追唐宋山水，其揮灑著勁道十足的律動線條，筆觸本著一瀉千里的波瀾氣勢馳騁畫面，而細節部分則以蜿蜓細筆所修飾，點亮霜雪漫天紛飛的意象，吳冠中曾以「大弦嘈嘈似急雨，小弦切切似私語」形容朱德群的妙絕筆法，而將此句用於本作更甚貼切。現代油畫的可塑性無可限量，朱德群巧妙地控制油彩不同程度的濃厚或稀釋，發揮了水墨中「焦、濃、重、淡、清」的五色效果，以表現黛青山嶺的遠近之別，再融合滴、落、流、濺等種種技法，營造無瑕白雪肆意飛騰的絕美畫面，將陰陽美學中相輔相成、和諧共融的哲思完美體現。

黑白之外，朱德群亦在《盛世雪》中酌量調進淡彩，當中的色彩哲學更是呼應著古代闡釋宇宙本體的五行學說：白、青、黑、赤、黃，剛好契合「金、木、水、火、土」五種元素，各種屬性在同一畫面上互相制衡，凝聚並促成自然中最根源的力量。古代五行學説將宇宙間一切萬物以五種屬性概括分類，是中國傳統文化裡的一個重要觀念，如此直觀的劃分本來就存在著抽象的傾向，與西方現代抽象主義中去形象化、純粹化的原則產生了精神上的共鳴。朱德群的藝術巨眼不僅取材自然，亦善於剖析自然、順應自然，從東方宇宙觀裡提煉出宏觀視野，而中國陰陽五行哲學正是其藝術內蘊的重要觀點，並在油彩之中被藝術家賦予嶄新的現代詮譯。

法國詩人與藝評家龍柏亦曾在《朱德群的「超脫之風景畫」》一文中，以詩性的角度分析藝術家與宇宙自然元素的關係：「我覺得朱德群是一個屬於『火』的畫家，屬於大氣和火，再加上一些難以確定的因素，存於這些因素裡的是它特有的隱密和它個性中不可覺的魔力，這些特質使他在巴黎畫派中能充任一個獨特的形象……他的畫呈現出對世界詩意的默想；這是一個充滿活力的，變幻不停的，具有生命力的空間之無限世界，在他每張畫裡都完全清晰地顯出這些空間；其中包含著人與元素間的契合。」龍柏提出的「人與元素間的契合」，正是朱德群在畫中所呈現「五行相生」的天地命理格局，而作者以「火」比喻藝術家，表達其爲人充滿著熱情的感染力，他的運筆也是身心渾然一致，即使《盛世雪》的畫面有著天寒地凍的意境，卻也能感受到當中那與宇宙龐大脈搏緊緊呼應著的旺盛生命力。

朱德群以畫雪景的妙筆之手闖出名堂，於八〇年代的國際藝壇惹來極大迴響，其先後於多個重量級博物館舉行個展，成功走進各地最高學術殿堂，而多項大小聯展的足跡更是遍佈歐亞，可謂為其於1997年獲選為首位華裔法蘭西院士鋪墊鴻圖。絕頂之上風光無限，藝術家才華橫溢而兼具詩人的瀟灑風雅，此時順遂的人生際遇、與日俱增的知名度，宛如唐代高適所寫一首雪景詩《別董大二首》中盛讚友人文質翩翩時所道：「千里黃雲白日曛，北風吹雁雪紛紛。 莫愁前路無知己，天下誰人不識君。 」而《盛世雪》的萬里雪景，正如反映此詩中讓人陶醉的意境，天降瑞雪為藝術家送行，迎接璀璨的盛世光景，廣受景仰。