fluktor -|||- study - office - newsletter November 27, 2005

The New York Timesm November 11, 2005
Yun Gee
By GRACE GLUECK

A poor immigrant from China who arrived in San Francisco at 15, Yun Gee (1906-63) had cultural and political aspirations. For one, he wanted to introduce Modernist trends in Western art to more traditional Chinese painting. He hoped to create an advanced 20th-century style for China that would gain the respect of international art circles, thus calling attention to the importance of the recently established Chinese Republic under the Nationalist policies of Sun Yat-sen. At the California School of Fine Arts, his teacher, the Modernist Otis Oldfield, introduced him to Cezanne's practice of building a pictorial structure, colored patch by patch, that produced a faceted aspect important to the Cubists who followed Cezanne.

Several strong portraits in the show have this Cezanne look, among them ''Head of a Man'' (1927), with its roughly geometric areas of broken color, and a ''Self-Portrait'' of 1926-27 that reveals his sensuous face by means of seemingly haphazard but carefully controlled strokes. In 1926 Gee formed the Chinese Revolutionary Artists Club in San Francisco and moved on to a mode that reflected Cubism with a witty twist, like the painting ''Modern Apartment'' (1932), whose geometries and sophisticated color contrasts conjure up a woman lounging in a chair next to an imposing telephone that assumes almost sexual significance. It was one of three of his paintings shown at the Museum of Modern Art that year.

In this mixed bag of a display, some works show the lyrical influence of Chinese painting, particularly his ink and white watercolor flower paintings and a sprightly number titled ''Welders: Industries of New York City'' (around 1933), depicting two men plying their trade in what seems almost a dance. In a more solid composition from this series, ''Wheels: Industrial New York (1),'' from 1932, perhaps the strongest work in the show, he salutes the urban dynamics of the city; a bridge, thrusting towers and grubby tenements in a rousing, closely packed composition.

It seems, however, that Yun Gee never really felt at home in the Western world, sensing constant discrimination against him as an Asian. His ambitious plan of bringing Western Modernism to Chinese art remained a dream, and he died disappointed. His work today is interesting for its period flavor.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CEFD9123EF932A25752C1A9639C8B63

__________________

with kind regards,

Matthias Arnold
(Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.fluktor.de

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	November 27, 2005: [achtung! kunst] Yun Gee (1906-63)

	The New York Timesm November 11, 2005 Yun Gee By GRACE GLUECK A poor immigrant from China who arrived in San Francisco at 15, Yun Gee (1906-63) had cultural and political aspirations. For one, he wanted to introduce Modernist trends in Western art to more traditional Chinese painting. He hoped to create an advanced 20th-century style for China that would gain the respect of international art circles, thus calling attention to the importance of the recently established Chinese Republic under the Nationalist policies of Sun Yat-sen. At the California School of Fine Arts, his teacher, the Modernist Otis Oldfield, introduced him to Cezanne's practice of building a pictorial structure, colored patch by patch, that produced a faceted aspect important to the Cubists who followed Cezanne. Several strong portraits in the show have this Cezanne look, among them ''Head of a Man'' (1927), with its roughly geometric areas of broken color, and a ''Self-Portrait'' of 1926-27 that reveals his sensuous face by means of seemingly haphazard but carefully controlled strokes. In 1926 Gee formed the Chinese Revolutionary Artists Club in San Francisco and moved on to a mode that reflected Cubism with a witty twist, like the painting ''Modern Apartment'' (1932), whose geometries and sophisticated color contrasts conjure up a woman lounging in a chair next to an imposing telephone that assumes almost sexual significance. It was one of three of his paintings shown at the Museum of Modern Art that year. In this mixed bag of a display, some works show the lyrical influence of Chinese painting, particularly his ink and white watercolor flower paintings and a sprightly number titled ''Welders: Industries of New York City'' (around 1933), depicting two men plying their trade in what seems almost a dance. In a more solid composition from this series, ''Wheels: Industrial New York (1),'' from 1932, perhaps the strongest work in the show, he salutes the urban dynamics of the city; a bridge, thrusting towers and grubby tenements in a rousing, closely packed composition. It seems, however, that Yun Gee never really felt at home in the Western world, sensing constant discrimination against him as an Asian. His ambitious plan of bringing Western Modernism to Chinese art remained a dream, and he died disappointed. His work today is interesting for its period flavor. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CEFD9123EF932A25752C1A9639C8B63 __________________ with kind regards, Matthias Arnold (Art-Eastasia list) http://www.chinaresource.org http://www.fluktor.de __________________________________________ An archive of this list as well as an subscribe/unsubscribe facility is available at: http://listserv.uni-heidelberg.de/archives/art-eastasia.html For postings earlier than 2005-02-23 please go to: http://www.fluktor.de/study/office/newsletter.htm