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Lot Essay
In 1930s, art scenes in China were rapidly developing 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 in particular. 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. 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." Hong Kong- and Guangzhou-based Yee Bon devoted six decades to his career in painting, his work is a revelation of the unique scenery in southern China. From Coastal Scene of Southern China (Lot 2206), Mulberry Fish Pond, Zhu Jiang, Guangzhou (Lot 2205) and Landscape (Lot 2207), audiences can learn more about Yee's exquisite depiction of the local customs and practices in southern China.
Coastal Scene of Southern China belonged to the Huai Yang Meng Bi Zhai, a family collection maintained by a Hong Kong collector, Kong Shiu Yim, for more than 50 years. Kong was born in Guangdong Province and was passionate about art. He conducted business in Hong Kong and throughout Southern China in his early years. Apart from Chinese books and paintings, his collection also includes works by such notables as Qi Baishi, Guan Liang, and Cheng Shifa.. Beyond just collecting, he also supported artists along the Guangdong coast such as Yee Bon and Xu Dongbai throughout their careers and was close to many artists personally. The solid friendship between Yee Bon and Kong Siu Yim is manifested by their frequent correspondence, in which they address each other as brothers. In the 1960s, Yee was invited by the Chinese government to create a painting for the Guangdong Hall in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. According to the Chinese newspaper, Ta Kung Pao, in order to present the unique scenery of Southern China, Yee started the preparation and brainstorming in the summer of the year prior to production, and created for the Great Hall of the People an imposing masterpiece, which, with a height of two metres and a width of four, showcases the coastal scene of southern China. Upon Mr Kong's invitation, Yee then created another Coastal Scene of Southern China for Yee's personal collection, which is smaller in scale but on the same subject.
The Coastal Scene of Southern China was painted on a rectangular wooden board, with a more than 1:2 length-to-width ratio, the coastal line of the beach stretches the long distance from left to right, its left-hand-side end bending towards the centre of the painting, creating an arc that spreads the coastal line further and creates a more extensive view of the sky and sea. As such, this painting heralds a breakthrough in Yee's technique; he handles the palm trees with a meticulous and delicate brushwork technique prevalent in flower and bird paintings in Lingnan, Guangdong, to reproduce the grains on the tree trunks and the slender needle-shaped leaves. Along the beach, the palm trees grow into dense woods, these thriving plants in the foreground symbolize the vitality of southern China. Inscribed in the oblate arc-shaped bay, there are numerous vessels sailing out to the sea, as well as some fishing boats sailing back, together with the waves stretching from shore, and the drifting clouds above, a rippling visual rhythm is created.
Guangzhou, located in the northern coast of the Pearl River Delta in China, is known as the "South Gate" of China, for it is the point of convergence where the Western, Northern and Eastern Rivers meet and enjoy convenient waterway transport with the outside. Water from the South China Sea formed rivers and nurtured countless lives. In Mulberry Fish Pond, Zhu Jiang, Guangzhou, the artist depicts Guangzhou in the 1950s and 1960s, a time during which, with its favourable natural conditions developed fishery and fish farming, gave its people a means of livelihood. Yee chose to render the Mulberry Fish Pond at dusk, painting a vast mountain view to create the setting of a fish pond situated by the sea against the mountain. With the lights scattering at the foot of the mountain and their reflections in the water, the artist presents a small populated fishing port with a myriad of twinkling lights. The foreground is formed by three fishing boats docking side by side, the boats' structure is simplified, the body of the boat consists of plates of different sizes, the masts form straight lines and slanted lines of various thickness, bringing the colour plates and lines into aesthetic play. A sense of romance is diffusing throughout the painting from Yee's dimly-lit fishing boats.
Landscape , created in the 1950s, represents the rural customs of the South. The earth tone applied represents the colour of Nature, while the hills, village huts and crops are simplified into geometric colour plates with Impressionist's freehand brushstroke, as such colours interweave and create a bouncing rhythm for the eyes. The beauty of lines are exhibited in the tree trunks, upward stretching branches and twigs in the foreground, light green leaves are sprouting on the branches, suggesting the vigorous vitality of Nature. Yee deliberately inserted several industrious farmers into the lovely rural scene, so as to honour the further labouring people.
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. 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." Hong Kong- and Guangzhou-based Yee Bon devoted six decades to his career in painting, his work is a revelation of the unique scenery in southern China. From Coastal Scene of Southern China (Lot 2206), Mulberry Fish Pond, Zhu Jiang, Guangzhou (Lot 2205) and Landscape (Lot 2207), audiences can learn more about Yee's exquisite depiction of the local customs and practices in southern China.
Coastal Scene of Southern China belonged to the Huai Yang Meng Bi Zhai, a family collection maintained by a Hong Kong collector, Kong Shiu Yim, for more than 50 years. Kong was born in Guangdong Province and was passionate about art. He conducted business in Hong Kong and throughout Southern China in his early years. Apart from Chinese books and paintings, his collection also includes works by such notables as Qi Baishi, Guan Liang, and Cheng Shifa.. Beyond just collecting, he also supported artists along the Guangdong coast such as Yee Bon and Xu Dongbai throughout their careers and was close to many artists personally. The solid friendship between Yee Bon and Kong Siu Yim is manifested by their frequent correspondence, in which they address each other as brothers. In the 1960s, Yee was invited by the Chinese government to create a painting for the Guangdong Hall in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. According to the Chinese newspaper, Ta Kung Pao, in order to present the unique scenery of Southern China, Yee started the preparation and brainstorming in the summer of the year prior to production, and created for the Great Hall of the People an imposing masterpiece, which, with a height of two metres and a width of four, showcases the coastal scene of southern China. Upon Mr Kong's invitation, Yee then created another Coastal Scene of Southern China for Yee's personal collection, which is smaller in scale but on the same subject.
The Coastal Scene of Southern China was painted on a rectangular wooden board, with a more than 1:2 length-to-width ratio, the coastal line of the beach stretches the long distance from left to right, its left-hand-side end bending towards the centre of the painting, creating an arc that spreads the coastal line further and creates a more extensive view of the sky and sea. As such, this painting heralds a breakthrough in Yee's technique; he handles the palm trees with a meticulous and delicate brushwork technique prevalent in flower and bird paintings in Lingnan, Guangdong, to reproduce the grains on the tree trunks and the slender needle-shaped leaves. Along the beach, the palm trees grow into dense woods, these thriving plants in the foreground symbolize the vitality of southern China. Inscribed in the oblate arc-shaped bay, there are numerous vessels sailing out to the sea, as well as some fishing boats sailing back, together with the waves stretching from shore, and the drifting clouds above, a rippling visual rhythm is created.
Guangzhou, located in the northern coast of the Pearl River Delta in China, is known as the "South Gate" of China, for it is the point of convergence where the Western, Northern and Eastern Rivers meet and enjoy convenient waterway transport with the outside. Water from the South China Sea formed rivers and nurtured countless lives. In Mulberry Fish Pond, Zhu Jiang, Guangzhou, the artist depicts Guangzhou in the 1950s and 1960s, a time during which, with its favourable natural conditions developed fishery and fish farming, gave its people a means of livelihood. Yee chose to render the Mulberry Fish Pond at dusk, painting a vast mountain view to create the setting of a fish pond situated by the sea against the mountain. With the lights scattering at the foot of the mountain and their reflections in the water, the artist presents a small populated fishing port with a myriad of twinkling lights. The foreground is formed by three fishing boats docking side by side, the boats' structure is simplified, the body of the boat consists of plates of different sizes, the masts form straight lines and slanted lines of various thickness, bringing the colour plates and lines into aesthetic play. A sense of romance is diffusing throughout the painting from Yee's dimly-lit fishing boats.
Landscape , created in the 1950s, represents the rural customs of the South. The earth tone applied represents the colour of Nature, while the hills, village huts and crops are simplified into geometric colour plates with Impressionist's freehand brushstroke, as such colours interweave and create a bouncing rhythm for the eyes. The beauty of lines are exhibited in the tree trunks, upward stretching branches and twigs in the foreground, light green leaves are sprouting on the branches, suggesting the vigorous vitality of Nature. Yee deliberately inserted several industrious farmers into the lovely rural scene, so as to honour the further labouring people.