Lot 1399: YEE BON

YEE BON
(YU BEN, 1905-1995)
Countryside
signed in Chinese; signed 'YEE BON' in Pinyin (lower left)
oil on board
28 x 38 cm. (11 x 15 in.)

Acquired from the artist, and thence by descent to the present owner

For 20 years, since 1935, Yee Bon resided with his family in Hong Kong, a place where he spent more than one third of his creative life. He lived the days when the Japanese military occupied the city, by which time he fled to Macau and thereafter returned to Hong Kong. The uncommon scenery of this small fishing village was, besides a collective memory of Hong Kong citizens of the 1930s to 1950s, an important subject of Yee Bon's creations. The Victoria Harbor, the Western District, Tai O, Lei Yue Mun, the Repulse Bay and the like became the themes of Yee Bon. In Hong Kong Scenery (Lot 1401), the romanticist colors the artist employ encapsulate the moment when fishing boats journey home and dock along the coast at dusk. Against the glorious sunset the versicolored clouds reveal the artist's sophisticated maneuver of light and colors. Yee Bon with his dexterity expresses his deep, delicate sentiment in the work; only Yee Bon who lived his life in the place was able to capture the essence of the alluring imagery and colors of this particular natural scene. He left for the world a memorial of the old Hong Kong, which had since met its twists and turns of destiny.

In similar fashion the oils of Yee Bon bring to light his intention to "nationalize oil paintings". The theme he opted for is a revelation, but of significance is his markedly Chinese manner in expressing emotion - by means of composition, brushwork and colors. In Field (Lot 1402) and Countryside (Lot 1399), the artist deftly divides the canvas by straight and oblique lines. With the fine, forceful strokes the work brings into existence the unique landscape of Chinese rural land, an environment in which Yee Bon was raised. Field portrays the industrious farmers against the background of a verdant vegetable field, extolling their diligence through which bumper harvest is yielded. In Countryside, the warm gold tone lights up the canvas with a sense of dazzling sunshine, and the distant scenic village lays out the simple, quiet rural life. Together with the abundant reaping, the context of the work is suffused with a Chinese spirit. Flowers in Jar and Fruits (Lot 1400), on the other hand, is fabulously rich in color; the bright, living coloring, the proper contrast of warm and cold hues, the balanced composition and the definite and liberal brushwork all demonstrate vividly the sanguine, broad mind of the confident artist.