PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's Sale, Hong Kong, Oct. 27, 2003, no. 367
Acquired directly from the above by the current owner

EXHIBITED:

Experiences of Passage: The Paintings of Yun Gee and Li-lan, Lin & Keng Gallery, Beijing, Nov. 15-Dec. 16, 2008

This painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei.

Yun Gee is an important Chinese contemporary artist in the early 20th century. In his time, he made dazzling artistic achievements despite deep racial discrimination in the United States. His works were displayed at various art exhibitions and stood up to those of avant-garde Euro-American artists as equals. "Wheels: Industrial New York", a piece of work during the New York Period, received widespread public attention at a mural exhibition in the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1932 and was repeatedly selected into the salon exhibitions in France, to be put on display in European and USA major galleries. The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC acquired five of his paintings, and the Whitney Museum in New York, the Oakland Museum in California, the Weatherspoon Gallery of Art, the University of North Carolina among others have Yun Gee's paintings in their collections. The Center Pompidou in Paris has one of his portraits.

In fact, were it not for the Great Depression in 1929, the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 and a series of economic problems, Yun Gee could have made greater achievements in European-American art circles. Misfortune, however, befell him and he spent his last years in depression.

Yun Gee was born in Guangdong Province in 1906, and went to the United States for a family reunion at the age of 15. He came upon a wholly strange new world in Los Angeles and continued his study in the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute). When he was in China, he used to learn water painting from Chinese masters, but he was more inclined to get acquainted with Western art masters and had his vision broadened by visiting numerous museums and art galleries. His personal exhibition in the Los Angeles Modern Gallery in 1924 proved to be a great success, and through which he met Prince and Princess Murat who were then on a trip from France. At their invitation, Yun Gee went to Paris in 1927 and was able to enjoy the sight of museums, churches and temples in this city of both ancient and modern cultures. As French culture fits the Chinese temperament well, he was soon accepted into artistic circles, and got to know important persons, and held a series of exhibitions.

In 1929, the New York stock market crashed, leading to a global economic depression and public panic. Yun Gee's career in Paris was impaired and he came back to America to wait for future opportunities. In addition to painting, he also traveled between the east and west coasts to promote art and social activities in Chinese societies. He produced political satirical cartoons, and participated in the American government's "WPA Easel Painter's Project" which aimed to help artists and scholars through the hard times. In 1936, he again went to France alone in the hope of regaining good times in Paris. Compared to the relatively conservative New York art circles, the Europeans were better at comprehending his art and where he enjoyed popularity. Yet good times never last long. WWII soon broke out, compelling him to return to the United States on Oct. 23rd, 1939. Despite his straitened circumstances, Yun Gee was a patriotic painter and humanitarian philanthropist, who for years held exhibitions to collect money for anti-Japanese activities. In order to earn a living, he joined the "WPA Easel Painter's Project" again in 1941, teaching landscape painting in the Museum of the City of New York.

"Frost in Central Park" was composed around 1940, when Yun Gee came back to New York from Paris. He was living on 67th Street in East Manhattan, near the junction of Madison Avenue. He lived there for about half a year before he had to move to Greenwich Village because of a lack of money to pay his rent. During his stay on the Upper East Side, he often took a stroll in Central Park with his partner Helen, who had been with him for five years. The scenery there inspired him to produce several realistic paintings. He married Helen in 1942 and his daughter Li-lan was born the year after. During this period he was quite active in creation and held various exhibitions to raise money for Chinese orphans in the war. The style of "Frost in Central Park" can be categorized into Yun Gee's second phase during the period of his stay in New York. By this time he had formed a mature individual style while maintaining his harmonious and emotional tone from Paris. There was, however, more contrast between light and dark, more a sense of melancholy. The high-rise buildings in the background are in geometric shapes, and the strong contrast between light and dark helps to show a solemn reality. In the forefront, several large bare branches separate the space of the scene, and in the background high-rise buildings rise in the distant view. In the middle of the painting, some trees are tinted with red frost. A man in red and a lady in green, wrapped in heavy coats, are strolling shoulder to shoulder, adding a touch of warmth to the bleak urban landscape. "Frost in Central Park" reflects the artist's mood as he was fortunate to have found love and company in his straitened circumstances. Harmonious in color and compact in structure, the complete work is a rare masterpiece from the period of his stay in New York.