Dong Moy Chu Kingman (1911 – 2000)

Seoul, Korea, 1954 - 56, watercolor on paper, signed lower right 21 x 28 inches (sight), Midtown Galleries label with artist’s name and title verso, likely exhibited at Kingman’s solo exhibition, Midtown Galleries, 1956, literature: Gruskin, Alan D., Saroyan, William (introduction), The Watercolors of Dong Kingman and How The Artist Works, The Studio Publications, Inc. in association with Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York and London (1958), p. 54 (illustrated) (“In Seoul on April 27th and 28th Kingman did some mountain sketching [see reproduction, on page 54, of handsome Kingman painting, “Seoul,” owned by Robert Clary], visited a high school where art is taught. Had many photographs and movies taken of him. On April 28th he went and talked with the Ambassador.” provenance includes Midtown Galleries, New York and the Estate of Robert Clary, Beverly Hills, California, presented in its original frame

$12,500

In the aftermath of the Chinese communist revolution and the Korean conflict, the US State Department turned to cultural exchanges and ambassadors to extol the virtues of democracy and counteract communist influences. In 1954, Chinese American artist, Dong Kingman became one of the first cultural ambassadors when he was commissioned to undertake a five-month-long journey across Asia and Europe. In addition to lecturing, meeting artists and conducting painting demonstrations, Kingman painted most days. Drawing on the cache of seventy-five watercolor sheets Kingman took on the voyage, he recalled “I went out on the spot and sketched for an hour or so, as I always do. Then I brought the papers home to finish on the original paper, as I find the time for them.” By 1956, he had completed forty-five of the paintings, many of which were shown in the countries in which they were painted before they were returned to the United States and exhibited at the Midtown Galleries in New York City.

Kingman painted Seoul, Korea as part of State Department sojourn. His time in Seoul in late April and early May 1954, was particularly meaningful for Kingman because he was reunited with his son, Eddie, who was serving as a sergeant in the US 1 St Marine Division band near the Demilitarized Zone and was described by Kingman as “a very American boy.” Together, the Kingmans traveled around Seoul before departing for Pusan and Chonju. Deviating from the staid tradition of filing a formal report with the State Department, Kingman compiled a record of his trip including the visit with his son, on a long Chinese style scroll, which was later published in Life magazine.

In Seoul, Korea, Kingman centers the gleaming white structure which served as the Japanese general government building during the occupation and after World War II as the home of the South Korean National Assembly. That Kingman chose to feature the legislative seat of its strong US ally likely reflects Kingman’s interest in promoting the virtues of democracy over vanquished Japan and the important role of the South Korean state in combating communism from North Korea and from China.