Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour, Chinese School C19th, c.1858-1875

oil on canvas, 45x79 cm

 

From the Bonhams catalogue, (hereunder): A late 19th-century traditional representation of Hong Kong Harbour at the zenith of its history as a storage and distribution outpost for Western traders en route to and from southern China. Amongst the traffic of vessels visible on the water are a prison hulk, paddle steamer, a ship flying the American colours in addition to a plethora of Chinese, European, commercial and fishing boats. The vessel flying a blue ensign in the left foreground can plausibly be identified as the Royal Naval warship, HMS 'Princess Charlotte', which was deployed as a 'receiving ship' in Hong Kong Harbour between 1858-1875, providing temporary accommodation for sailors not yet assigned to a particular crew.

The city of Victoria can be seen from the north, across the harbour, from the Kowloon Penninsula. The 'godown' of Jardine Matheson and Company - the dominant trading enterprise along the Chinese coast - is visible on the far left. On the summit of Victoria Peak, the grouping of flags indicates the presence of the Hong Kong Signal Station, the construction of which marked the first building on the Peak in 1861.

 

Emilia Lennox

John Hoppner RA (British 1758-1810), oil on canvas, 30" X 25", Portrait of Emilia (Emily) Charlotte Lennox (December 1763 – 19 October 1832): Daughter of General Lord George Lennox, second son of the Duke of Richmond. Half figure portrait, wearing bluish green dress with black lace shawl. Unsigned.  Label on verso from Thomas Agnew & Sons, London. Carved wood gilt frame.

Vision of Cathay

Circle of George Chinnery, watercolour, "Vision of Cathay" (British Installation on Hong Kong Island, c. 1841). Buildings on the promontory of East Point are the first residence of the taipan of Jardine Matheson. (Davis Galleries, New York). (Provenance: The estate of a prominent Philadelphia collector and previously in the collection of Sir Bruce Ingram.) Period gesso gilt frame. 9"h x 13"w - image; 20 1/2"h x 24 1/2"w - frame.

Pair of Overmantel Landscapes

James Ross (British, c.1700 - c.1760), pair of oil on canvas overmantel landscapes (c.1735), each depicting a landscape with rolling hills and figures, both signed lower left, 12 1/2'' x 39 1/4''.

Provenance: Estate of Walter Bott Loucks Jr., York, Pennsylvania.

Si Saket Series

Untitled Si Saket Series 2006, oil on canvas 110x130 cm, by Mitree Parahom.

From the catalogue of the exhibition by H Gallery Bangkok (2007), and H Gallery New York (2006):

Si Saket is the latest exhibition of paintings by Thai artist Mitree Parahom, born in Srisaket 1969. For his 15th solo exhibition, the graduate of Chulalongkorn University Bangkok presents 13 new paintings extolling the virtues of agrarian life in his native Isaan region of Thailand.

After almost a decade achieving domestic success in Bangkok, Mitree relocated to his family farm in the north-eastern ("Isaan") province of Si Saket, giving him closer proximity to the mainstay subject of his art. Distant from the capital's deliberated art climate, Mitree has relinquished the more stylised composite canvases of his early career, becoming purer and more direct in his tribute to agrarian kin.

In his most sincere paintings to date, Mitree's intimate portrayals of lowly Isaan farm folk reveal the humble dignity and camraderie of these rugged, rural cultivators. Despite physical hardship and the uncertainty of the weather, Mitree's paintings convey the famer's undeniable bond with nature.

Symbolically tethered to their labouring oxen, and attired in muddied clothing to protect them from the sun's ravages, the artist places his plebeian subjects against the vividly coloured flat plains and endless horizons that epitomise the Isaan landscape.

Just as Grant Wood's 1930s painting American Gothic paid an indelible homage to the provincial mid-western American farmer, Mitree's stooping depictions of agricultural labourers are iconic in the approbation of Thailand's unsung hero.

The Slum

The Slum by Thanh Son, oil on canvas, 70x90cm.

Thanh Son was born in Haiphong in 1982, and graduated from the painting department of the Hanoi Industrial Fine Art College. He has exhibited at:

1997 National Fine Art Exhibition, Hanoi

1998 Student Fine Art Exhibition, Hanoi Industrial Fine Art College

1999 Hanoi Capital Fine Art Exhibition

2000 National Exhibition, Hanoi

2002 Vietnam ASEAN Exhibition, Hanoi

Vide this post about the picture here.

The Quiet

The Quiet by Thanh Son, oil on canvas, 100x100cm.

Thanh Son was born in Haiphong in 1982, and graduated from the painting department of the Hanoi Industrial Fine Art College. He has exhibited at:

1997 National Fine Art Exhibition, Hanoi

1998 Student Fine Art Exhibition, Hanoi Industrial Fine Art College

1999 Hanoi Capital Fine Art Exhibition

2000 National Exhibition, Hanoi

2002 Vietnam ASEAN Exhibition, Hanoi

Vide this post about the picture here.