Oil on cardboard

29.5 × 21.5 cm. 11 5/8 x 8 1/2 in.

Dated on bottom left; signed in Chinese and English on bottom right
PROVENANCE
29 Oct 2000, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Auction, Lot 250
Private Collection, Asia
9 Apr 2008, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Auction, Lot 807
Important Private Collection, Asia

First Generation Chinese American Artist Yun Gee’s Kaleidoscopic Visions of America
At the beginning of the 20th century, China was inundated with a large number of Western paintings. This period has continually been defined as the birth of modern Chinese art. One artist in particular stood out from the wave of international art students from China, breaking free from the typical pattern of growth that Chinese expats followed at that time and developing a global reputation thanks to his avant-garde perspective on art. Later, word of this artist found its way to Shanghai, where his name was included in the 1932 edition of Who’s Who in China. He is one of first generation Chinese American artist in North America: Yun Gee.
An Artistic Prodigy
‘A crucial turning point in the story of the Chinese in China-town takes place in the 1920s in the work and life of Yun Gee, easily the most remarkable Chinese American painter of his generation.’
—Prof. Anthony Lee, Department of History, Mount Holyoke College
Born in Guangzhou, Yun Gee was studied in a private school at a young age. Later, he was inspired by the revolutionary artistic ideas of the local Lingnan school and developed an interest in modern painting. In 1921, at the age of only 15, Yun Gee was sent to San Francisco. In the liberal environment of California, he officially began his studies in modern painting under the auspices of Cubist painter Otis Oldfield, who had just returned from France. Yun Gee mastered Oldfield’s technique of “color zoning” and took inspiration from aspects of Cubism and Expressionism in order to develop a unique style that demonstrated his outstanding talent.
In 1926, the artist (then aged 20) founded the Modern Gallery (today called the San Francisco Art Center) and in August of that year organized his first group exhibition. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the resounding success of this event as well as extensively listed the achievements of this “young futuristic artist from China” in San Francisco’s local arts scene, further bolstering Yun Gee’s reputation. Meanwhile, in terms of his knowledge of modern painting, Yun was head and shoulders above other East Asian artists of the same age studying in Europe and Japan. He quickly became recognized as the Chinese artist in the US with the most in-depth understanding of Western avant-garde art.
Revolutionary ideals conveyed through vibrant color:
Afternoon in a Small Town
In July 1926, the Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek announced its Northern Expedition in Guangzhou, launching a call to arms that resounded across the nation. Meanwhile, the founder of the Lingnan school, Chen Shuren, was busy raising funds for Chiang Kai-Shek’s revolution in San Francisco. Inspired by Chen, Yun Gee decided to emulate the Lingnan school’s method of contributing to the revolution through art by opening the Chinese Revolutionary Artists’ Club in San Francisco’s Chinatown. As the founder of this club, Yun conveyed his passionate ideals for the revolution through what he dubbed “Diamondism” — a style that placed an emphasis on igniting the viewer’s emotions with a dazzling array of colors, forms, and rays of light.
It was during this stage in Yun Gee’s career that he completed Afternoon in a Small Town (Lot 667), a work that depicts a street corner of Chinatown in San Francisco. Yun goes against the grain of typical street paintings by choosing a narrow view of three overlapping rooftops as the main subject matter of the work. These triangular roofs span the canvas from left to right, dividing it into a top and bottom half. The green lines trace the form of the red roof, creating a compelling contrast of light and dark. Meanwhile, the green window and door frames complement the horizontal movement of the roofs, adding to the work’s overall visual balance.
The form of the trees behind the roofs have been simplified into round color blocks, while the distance between the trees is distinguished using green and yellow brushstrokes in different directions, giving the painting a three-dimensional feel and demonstrating the artist’s consummate use of color and composition. Although Yun Gee never communicated directly with the leading modernist artists of Europe, his works display quintessential Cubist traits and share similarities with the Der Blaue Reiter school founded by Wassily Kandinsky. When studying Yun’s work, one cannot help but be struck by how forward-looking he was; his stylistic growth shows that he had his finger firmly on the pulse of the international art scene. The careful use of pink hues at the top of the painting seemingly hints at Yun’s optimistic feelings about the revolution and the fate of his people.
A Symbol of Humble Origins and New Horizons: Hat
After relocating to Paris, Yun Gee was influenced by certain artists belonging to the École de Paris and turned his focus back to one of his initial inspirations, Paul Cézanne. As a result, he temporarily abandoned outdoor urban scenery in favor of indoor still lifes. Hat (Lot 668) is an emblematic work dating from this period. It is all the more remarkable as it is the only oil painting by Yun Gee on the market to feature a single, inanimate object.
In the center of the canvas sits a newsboy hat. This hat is depicted from directly above to remove its depth and create a flat composition in what is perhaps an homage to Cézanne. Meanwhile, in keeping with the tenets of both Western Impressionism and Chinese xieyi (or freehand brushwork), Yun places an emphasis on conveying spirit and emotion rather than aiming for physical realism. Where form is concerned, the curved lines of Hat contrast with the geometric shapes seen in Afternoon in a Small Town. While the color scheme is largely composed of earthen yellows and browns, one can see upon closer inspection different groups of contrasting hues such as reds and greens, whites and blacks, and yellows and blues. Unlike Yun’s prior works from his time in San Francisco, in which rich blocks of color are neatly defined and stand next to one another like pieces of a mosaic, Hat’s color zones blend into one another, creating blurry gradients that bring to mind the work of famous Impressionists.
The newsboy cap featured in Hat originates from New York at the turn of the 20th century. At that time, as maritime transportation became more accessible, thousands of immigrants made their way by sea to the United States. Upon their arrival in this foreign land, as they struggled to make ends meet, many immigrant families would send their children to sell newspapers on the street. These children typically wore octagonal caps that were popular among the working class at this time in both Europe and America. In this way, the hats became synonymous with immigrant children and were dubbed “newsboy caps”. Later, in the 1920s, newsboy caps were adopted by boys and men of all social classes as a popular bohemian accessory. Yun Gee was not immune to this trend — as a young man in the 20s, he too donned the newsboy cap and created a number of works in which the accessory was prominently featured, such as Head of Man in Cap (Self-Portrait) from 1927. The newsboy cap not only became Yun Gee’s widely known calling card — it also reflects his identity as a Chinese immigrant. It serves as a reminder of his difficult beginnings as a boy living on his own in a foreign country as well as the longing he felt for his country of birth.

Price estimate:
HKD: 750,000 - 950,000
USD: 96,200 - 121,800

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,298,000