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Lot Essay
"Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?"
Leda And The Swan by William Butler Yeats
Many artists and writers have been drawn to the ancient Greek myth of Leda (Lot 116), in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces the beautiful Leda. For example, the sculptor Bartolomeo Ammanati highlighted the beauty of the human body and the libido of animals, while Leonardo Da Vinci's brush emphasised the maternal side of Leda, with soft strokes creating a rounder body.
Yun Gee imbues the story with a mysterious oriental mood: under the deep blue night sky, the naked Leda lies on her side as the white swan lowers his head and kisses her; under his fluttering wings, Leda glows with beauty; the full moon above watches silently and the night sky is filled with love.
The piece was created in 1940 during Yun Gee's New York era, a time the artist describes as a 'period about life'. Yun Gee often used yellow as the basic colour tone, suggesting that he saw hope in his artistic career. The images in his 'female nude' series have been described as 'being able to reveal the inner soul'. Yun Gee combined the earlier Synchromism style with the German Expressionism and Cubism styles, while also referencing the Parisian artists' use of brushstrokes. He developed the unique 'diamond theory' to portray the liveliness and spirituality of his subject matter. In Leda, he interprets the classical Western myth through the humble and subtle 'Lao Zhuang' Chinese philosophical concept - the energetic and dynamic use of colour conveys one's hope and anticipation towards love, while the subtle yet loving postures demonstrate the mysterious and metaphorical oriental elements.
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?"
Leda And The Swan by William Butler Yeats
Many artists and writers have been drawn to the ancient Greek myth of Leda (Lot 116), in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces the beautiful Leda. For example, the sculptor Bartolomeo Ammanati highlighted the beauty of the human body and the libido of animals, while Leonardo Da Vinci's brush emphasised the maternal side of Leda, with soft strokes creating a rounder body.
Yun Gee imbues the story with a mysterious oriental mood: under the deep blue night sky, the naked Leda lies on her side as the white swan lowers his head and kisses her; under his fluttering wings, Leda glows with beauty; the full moon above watches silently and the night sky is filled with love.
The piece was created in 1940 during Yun Gee's New York era, a time the artist describes as a 'period about life'. Yun Gee often used yellow as the basic colour tone, suggesting that he saw hope in his artistic career. The images in his 'female nude' series have been described as 'being able to reveal the inner soul'. Yun Gee combined the earlier Synchromism style with the German Expressionism and Cubism styles, while also referencing the Parisian artists' use of brushstrokes. He developed the unique 'diamond theory' to portray the liveliness and spirituality of his subject matter. In Leda, he interprets the classical Western myth through the humble and subtle 'Lao Zhuang' Chinese philosophical concept - the energetic and dynamic use of colour conveys one's hope and anticipation towards love, while the subtle yet loving postures demonstrate the mysterious and metaphorical oriental elements.