細節
余本
海景—香港維多利亞港
油彩 畫布 裱於纖維板(共三件)
1953年作
簽名:YEE BON

來源
香港 私人收藏

1930年代的中國藝壇,除了在北京、上海等地區蓬勃發展,南方沿海城市廣州及香港同時形成了一股發展中國油畫的力量。余本、關良、李鐵夫、馮鋼百、黃新波、李秉、伍步雲、陳福善、鮑少游等畫家曾聚居香港,令這沿海小城市出現一個細小但活躍的藝術圈。

余本為香港五十年代最傑出的畫家之一,其作品對早期香港藝術發展殊有影響。余氏早於1918年遠越重洋赴加拿大謀生求學。1928年考進溫尼佩格藝術學院(Winnipeg chool of Art),開始接受正規的藝術訓練,師從名畫家L.L. Fitzgerald。1929年轉入多倫多安大略省立藝術學院(Ontario College of rt),跟隨加拿大名畫家J.E.H MacDonald、J.W Beaty及Frank Johnson習畫。1932年,余本的作品已於海外獲得認同,並成為首位華人藝術家擠身加拿大渥太華美術館
(National Art Gallery, Ottawa) 。及至1935年,余本回國,並定居香港,設立畫室繼續創作,同時授徒,致力推動香港的西洋畫發展。30-40年代的香港只是一個小小的漁港,文化藝術相對落後,在這兒發展藝術並不容易,余本在物質貧乏的環境下,仍能堅持差不多每年舉辦畫展,創作力驚人。1937年徐悲鴻來到香港,參觀了余本的畫展和畫室,讚嘆說:「我以為油畫在中國是處女地,尤其是南方,想不到香港竟然有兩位出色的油畫家:一位是李鐵夫,一位是余本。」余本一生60年的油畫創作,以1956年從香港回歸廣州為分界,可以劃分為「香港時期」(1935-1956)及「中國時期」。本次夜間拍賣呈獻的兩幅佳作,乃此二時期之代表作品,極具歷史價值,見證余本藝術創作中不同階段所展現的生命力。

《海景—香港維多利亞港》(Lot 1021)乃現時文獻資料記載中,余本創作尺幅最大之巨作。根據余本家屬編撰之藝術家年表,此作乃抗日戰爭結束,藝術家從澳門返港後,為香港半島酒店吉地士法國餐廳(Gaddi's)創作,畫作於1953年完成,同年吉地士餐廳正式開幕。作品展於吉地士餐廳超過30年(圖一),與半島酒店同證香港的發展。1980年代末,半島酒店擴建重修,畫作此後由一直支持余本創作之私人藏家收藏,迄今已超過20載。

《海景—香港維多利亞港》展現余本居港20多年,對香港的情懷。藝術家以寫實的藝術手法,深刻地表現了1950年代香港維多利亞港,頻繁的海上交通和漁民勞動的景象。余本曾說:「一個畫家應該畫他所熟悉的生活,反映他對事物熱愛的感情,而不是憑空虛構,或者硬去畫不屬於他的階層東西,那只能成為一種裝飾品,而不能成為一件有感情的藝術品」。余本從小在農村長大,又深
深體驗過海外華工,離鄉別井,出賣勞力之苦,因此對勞動者有著深厚的情感和強烈的熱愛。回國以後,余氏致力研究勞動人民題材,他的切入點從由衷的憐憫,漸漸昇華至佩服及熱愛之情。余氏對人性的關懷,驅使他受徐悲鴻邀到桂林寫生時,所關注的竟不是桂林秀麗的山水,而是漓江邊上終日與急流搏鬥的縴夫。他曾說:「勞動人民是最健康和最美的」。因此余本筆下漁民、農民、苦力等群像充滿了堅毅而不可征服的性格。

《海景—香港維多利亞港》描繪從九龍半島遠眺的維多利亞港景色。在晴朗的天空下,以廣闊的太平山為背景,在彼岸中環的高樓大廈、英式建築物襯托下,突顯了中式大漁船的主題,側面記載了英國殖民下華洋雜處的香港社會。余本通過深刻的觀察,把漁民作業和生活的一舉一動細膩地描繪,包括漁民在木製的帆船上收網的情景,有人拉網,有人拉帆,互相合作,團結一致。余本也把女漁民背著嬰孩出海作業的情景入畫,記載了早期漁民居於漁船上,故又被稱為「水上人」的歷史。畫中左方正在搖動木櫓撥水駕駛舢舨的漁婦的衫褲服飾,也是漁民勞動的象徵。漁民為方便船上活動,他們習慣赤足,頭上戴上圓形竹帽,就是為了遮擋長時間在戶外工作遇到的猛烈陽光。赤腳的漁婦駕駛舢舨,精神勃勃,體現漁民充沛的活力,光輝的人性。畫中一艘帆船寫上「四海平安」的字句,隱含了出海打漁面對無情的風浪帶來的危機,更顯漁民乘風破浪的冒險精神。事實上,余本筆下所歌頌那不畏艱辛、勤奮的精神,就是香港人的精神。這堅毅的精神讓香港這個小小的漁港,發展成今天國際知名的金融市場,成就了無數人的夢想。帆船也因此成了香港的象徵,記載香港這段光輝的奮鬥歷史。

《海景—香港維多利亞港》尺幅之大相當考驗藝術家的構圖、佈局能力。而余本的確做到大而不空、空而不洞。在選題、色彩、光影上都充分表現出畫家精湛的繪畫技巧及獨特的表達手法以體現出自己的審美情趣和品格。在表達形式上,余本以寫實的藝術手法,深刻地表現了勞動人民散發出特殊的感染力,令人聯想起米勒(Jean-François Millet)筆下提起斧頭劈木的工人(圖二),表現勞動者的貢獻,刻劃出那個時代一般平民的人心和思想,表現了近代思想。余本在加拿大學畫時的老師與1920年代成立的加拿大七人畫會的代表人物,畫風深受北歐印象派的影響,多以厚重的油彩、強烈的色彩表現加拿大美麗的大自然景色。《海景—香港維多利亞港》中鮮明的色彩運用、粗豪的筆觸則滲透著印象派節奏明快的風格(圖三)。在嚴謹的構圖下,用筆穩健而顯粗放,鮮明地展現出藝術家充滿自信,豁然開朗的心境。色彩明亮、輕快,冷暖色對比合宜,以鮮明的藍色、白色描繪晴朗的天空,又以自由、灑脫的筆觸表現海上的光影變化。作品表露非常真實和樸素的感情,使人感到親切,忠實地記載香港昔日的風貌。
來源
Private Collection, Hong Kong

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拍品專文

In 1930s, art scenes in China were rapidly developed in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Coastal cities in the south such as Guangzhou and Hong Kong, meanwhile, formed a strong force in cultivating Chinese oil paintings. Artists such as Yee Bon, Guan Liang, Li Tiefu, Feng Gangbai, Huang Xinbo, Lee Byng, Ng Po Wan, Luis Chan and Bao Shaoyou once all resided in Hong Kong, and contributed to a small, but remarkably vibrant, artistic community.

Yee Bon was one of the most prominent painters in Hong Kong during the 1950s, his works were enormously influential in the early art development of Hong Kong. In 1918, Yee Bon left for Canada and began receiving formal art education at Winnipeg School of Art in 1928. In 1932, Yee Bon transferred to Ontario College of Art to study under Canadian artists J.E.H MacDonald, J.W Beaty and Frank Johnson. In 1932, Yee's works were widely recognised overseas and he became the first Chinese artist to exhibit in the National Art Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. He returned to his homeland, Guangzhou, and later moved to Hong Kong in 1935, and started a studio in which he worked and taught to promote the development of Western paintings locally. Hong Kong, a small fishing village in the 1930s to 40s, was a backwater of art and culture. Yee Bon had taken up the challenge, and with an impressive creativity, insist on organizing painting exhibitions almost every year with very limited resources. When Xu Beihong visited his exhibition and studio in 1937, he exclaimed in amazement, "I think oil painting is novel to China, especially in the South. I had no idea that there are two great oil painters in Hong Kong: Li Tiefu and Yee Bon." Yee Bon devoted himself to oil paintings throughout the 60 years of his artistic career. His paintings can be divided in two phases, marked by his return to Guangzhou from Hong Kong in 1956; the first phase, the "Hong Kong period" (1935-1956) and thereafter the "China period". Two masterpieces from both phases are offered in this Evening sale, they are representative of their respective phases, embracing significant historical value while witnessing Yee Bon's vitality throughout the different periods of his artistic creation.

According to documentary records, Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong (Lot 1021) is the largest painting ever created by the artist. From the artist's biography, compiled by his family, the painting was created Gaddi's, a French restaurant in the renowned Peninsula Hotel after he went back to Hong Kong from Macau at the end of Sino-Japanese War. The painting was completed in 1953, when Gaddi's opened its door to the public, and it had been hanging on its wall for over 30 years (Fig. 1). Together with the Peninsula they witnessed the rapid development of Hong Kong. At the end of the 1980s, the hotel underwent renovation and expansion, and for more than 20 years, the painting has been passed on to a private collector who continuously supports Yee Bon's artistic career.

With 20 years of residence in Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong expresses Yee's sentiments to the city. By using realism as a means of artistic expression, Yee intensively exhibits a scene of busy marine traffic and working fishermen in Victoria Harbour during the 1950s. He stated that "A painter should paint what he is familiar with in order to reflect the passion to the things he loves. He should not construct entirely from imagination or forcefully portray subjects that belong to a world out of his. These can only be ornaments rather than sentimental works of art" . Yee grew up in the countryside and experienced the pain of leaving home and working as a Chinese labourer overseas, which stemmed his deep affections for the labourers. After returning to China, he devoted himself to the study of scenes of labourer at work with an appreciation that began with empathy and gradually transformed into admiration. When drawing with Xu Beijing in Guilin, Yee's awareness to the human spirit directed his focus to the labourers who worked along the riverside instead of the beautiful landscape. He said, "labourers are the healthiest and the prettiest." Under Yee's paintbrush, fishermen, farmers and coolies are filled with perseverance and as an unconquerable character.

Victoria Harbour depicts the scenes of the harbour looking out from the Kowloon Peninsula. Under the bright blue sky, the Peak acts as a vast backdrop, together with the skyscrapers and the British colonial architecture in Central on the other side of the harbour reflect the characteristic Chinese junks. Every detail of the fishermen's work and life has been exquisitely illustrated by Yee's thorough observation, some collect the net on the wooden junks, some are pulling the net and some are pulling the sail, expressing cooperation and unity in life. Yee further portrays the working female figure with a baby on her back, recording the daily life episodes of early Hong Kong fishermen. On the left hand side of the painting, there is a female fisherman sculling the sampan in representative costume, working barefoot, allowing her to move conveniently on the boats. Adorning round-shaped bamboo hats on their head protects them from the strong sunlight as the barefooted women vigorously work, shows plentiful energy and brilliant characteristic of human nature. Chinese characters meaning safe journey are inscribed on the boat, implying the dangers of sailing and fishing brought by the merciless stormy waves, and the adventurous spirit of these brave fishermen. In fact, the spirit of absolute fearlessness of the fishermen in Yee's painting is exactly the spirit of the people in Hong Kong, which enable a small fishing village to be developed into an internationally well-known financial market, realising the dreams of millions of people. For the very reason, a sailing junk has become a symbol of Hong Kong, recording its glorious history.

The sheer size of the painting challenges its composition and spatial arrangement, and Yee presents his subjects and creates imagery successfully without a feeling of emptiness. The subject matter, use of colour and application of light and shadow fully reveal the masterly painting skills and his unique way of expression, manifesting his aesthetics and personality. Yee uses realism as a means of artistic expression to demonstrate the unique appeal made by the labourers. It reminds us the worker holding axe in Jean Francois Millet's painting (Fig.2) which represents the contribution of labourers, and describes the feeling and ideology of the general public at that period of time, and expresses a modern way of thinking. The painterly style that Yee learned in Canada in the 1920s was significantly affected by his teachers, who were greatly influenced by the Impressionist in Northern Europe. They applied multilayer of oil paints, and a strong contrast of colours to depict the landscape of Canada. Yee's painting embodies the essence of Impressionism, and with a tightly knit composition and bold brushworks, he expresses fully his confidence and positive outlook. The painting shows the brightness and vigour of colour, using blue and white to depict a sunny and clear sky, and free and energetic brushworks to represent the change of light on the sea. The painting expresses a sense of authenticity and simplicity, bringing viewer closer to the work while composing the historical landscape of old Hong Kong.

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