Lot 3: Georgette Chen (1907-1992) The Sam Sui Worker

Georgette Chen (1907-1992)
The Sam Sui Worker
circa 1961

signed
oil on canvas

55 by 46.5 cm.
21 5/8 by 18 5/16 in.
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Provenance
Mr. and Mrs. John Edmund Ryan, acquired directly from the artist in 1961Thence by descent to the present owner
Exhibited
Singapore, Singapore Polytechnic,  12th Exhibition of Works by Local Artists, 1961, unpaginated, illustrated in black and white and listed as exhibit no. 27
Literature
Her World, Singapore 1961, August 1961, unpaginated, illustrated in colour
張荔英
三水婦女油彩畫布約1961年作
簽名：Chen
來源
John Edmund Ryan伉儷於1961年直接得自藝術家現由其家屬繼承
展覽
「第十二屆當地畫家作品公開展」，新加坡藝術協會，新加坡，1961年4月7至20日，地點於新加坡工藝學院
出版
「三水婦女」，《Her World》，新加坡，1961年8月，無頁數，彩圖《新嘉坡藝術協會主辦第十二屆當地畫家作品公開展》，新加坡藝術協會，新加坡1961年，無頁數，黑白圖，索引第27號
'The Sam Sui Worker was our choice being a recent work of mine and colourful note of Singapore.'
― Georgette Chen (the artist in a letter to P.N. Kennison, 15 April 1961)
The Sam Sui Worker is an exceptional example of the portraiture of artist Georgette Chen (née Zhang Liying), (1907-1992), one of the most celebrated Asian artists of the 20th century and a pioneer of the Nanyang Style. Chen's cosmopolitan background and her unique perspectives as an independent female artist and member of the Chinese diaspora set her and the Sam Sui workers apart from their contemporaries. The Sam Sui Worker, while not a named individual, is not a genre painting observing everyday life of the working class but a portrait of a person whom the viewer is made to feel Chen must have known well. The Immigration Restriction Ordinance (1928), and later the Aliens Ordinance (1933) by the British colonial authority in Singapore, saw strict quotas limiting the number of male Chinese immigrants allowed. This meant the financial burden of breadwinner fell on the women of many poorer Chinese families. The titular Sam Sui worker was one of hundreds of thousands of women who immigrated to Singapore for work mainly from the Sanshui ('Sam Sui' in Cantonese, meaning 'three waters') district of Canton (Guangdong today) province in southern China. Arriving in multitudes and forming tight-knit communities, they, like nuns, took vows never to marry. Their sacrifices not only supported their families but helped build modern Singapore. These women also had a reputation for being fierce, aggressive, wary of strangers, and tending to only associate with fellow Sam Sui women, in contrast to Chen's rendition. The Sam Sui Worker is an apt subject for Chen—it contradicts stereotypes and simultaneously acts as a foil to the artist. Both artist and subject experienced stories of loss and found community overseas. Chen and her portrait subject may share in their diasporic origins, but the irony of the privileged, well-to-do Chen painting a blue-collar worker from her privileged position is not lost. T... For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website