Chinese Paintings

Chinese Paintings
Collection of Lim Ying Yun (1914-2009)

林瑩筠女士舊藏

Lots 8001-8017


Lim Ying Yun, also known as Lin Xiuzhen, was known to her friends as Christine Wong. Born in Fuzhou and raised in Xiamen, Lim attended a Methodist boarding school at an early age. Possessing a modern and independent spirit, Lim defied family pressure to have her feet bound, and later to enter into an arranged marriage. She was among only a few female students to study biology at Xiamen University and Qingdao University, and at age 24, insisted on marrying a man of her choice. During the war, Lim and her husband Wong Tok Sau (1913-1978) relocated to Hong Kong, where Wong took charge of the Tao Fa Company (also known as Amoy Canning, now Amoy Food Limited), the family's soy sauce and soft drink enterprise. Fleeing invading Japanese troops, Lim and Wong moved first to Macao, then to Singapore where she resided for 45 years. Lim relocated to San Francisco in 1998, and eventually returned to Hong Kong and Singapore, where she passed away at the age of 95. Lim developed her passion for Chinese paintings in her 40s while living in Hong Kong, studying with several masters there. Both Lim and Wong were active in the artistic circles of Hong Kong and Singapore, with Wong painting under the sobriquet Zhuma Jushi. Lim became a student of Zhang Daqian, who worked with her extensively. When Zhang resided in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lim visited her teacher in Carmel and Monterey, and accepted several paintings he offered her. An avid collector of Chinese paintings, Lim Ying Yun befriended and patronized many major artists, including Zhang Daqian, Huang Junbi, Chen Fang, and Lee Man Fong. She continued to paint into her 80s, experimenting with new media such as oil and acrylic, and winning prizes at painting competitions. Selected paintings from Lim Ying Yun's collection are being offered by members of her family.

出生於福州、成長於廈門的林瑩筠（又名林秀珍），自幼在鼓浪嶼衛理教會寄宿學校求學，後於廈門大學和青島大學學習生物學。秉持著新時代女性的獨立思想，林氏違背家族旨意，堅拒纏足及包辦婚姻，並在24歲時，嫁給自由戀愛的夫婿黄篤修（1913-1978）。戰爭之際，黄氏伉儷遷居香港。黃氏掌管淘化大同醬油食品的業務（其家族醬油和汽水企業的前身為廈門罐頭公司）。為了逃離日軍的侵略，兩人先搬到澳門，隨後定居新加坡長達四十五年之久。1998年，林瑩筠遷往舊金山，最後重返香港及新加坡，95歲辭世於新加坡。林氏在港居停期間，曾拜多位畫家習中國畫，對藝術的熱情與日俱增。伉儷二人活躍於星、港畫壇，黄篤修還以「竹馬居士」為號作畫。林瑩筠後入大風堂門下，師徒往來甚密。上世紀六十年代末、七十年代初，大千先生定居於北加州，林氏還專程到卡蜜爾和蒙特利造訪，期間並獲大千先生贈與畫作多幅。林瑩筠對收藏中國書畫滿懷熱枕，結識並支持多位重要藝術家，除大千外、黃君璧、陳方和李曼峰等人亦與黄氏夫婦常相往還。她孜孜不倦，逾80歲高齡仍持畫筆創作，嘗試以油彩和亞克力等新媒介作畫，並屢屢在繪畫比賽中獲獎。本輯所精選均得自林氏家人。