Chen Chi (American/Chinese, 1912-2005)

程及（美籍華裔，1912-2005）

Musician under a Street Lamp, 1956
Watercolor on thin paper with thin fabric backing, signed in Chinese and English, with one seal, and dated lower left; in a Newcomb-Macklin Co., New York silvered carved wood frame, glazed.

Note:
The present work illustrates themes which the artist was particularly interested in exploring during the 1950s. The sense of space and light, presented in a theatrical way, perhaps referencing the shallow space of a stage, bounded by a curtain or backdrop, is physically enlivened by the texture of the urban landscape, focusing on the weathered surfaces of brick and stucco walls. In some of these works from the 1950s, like "Musician under a Street Lamp", the artist has included human figures, rendered in similar tones to their surroundings, grounding them in their environment. For other examples of this theatrical depiction of urban "stage sets", see Taipei, National Museum of History, Chen Chi, 1988, pp. 17, 18, 20-21, 26, 32, and 37. The last work cited, "Playing a Violin" is closely related to the present painting, with a seated violinist, dwarfed by the wall behind them, performing in the urban landscape.

Sheet: 32 1/2 x 30 in., 82.5 x 76.2 cm.; Frame 37 x 34 1/4 in., 94 x 87 cm.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Provenance:

Hill Auction Gallery, Sunrise, Florida, November 30, 2016, lot 246.

來源：

佛羅里達州Sunrise市Hill Auction Gallery行2016年11月30日專場第246號。