Seeking info on "lost" Hong Kong artist painter

Submitted by Pierre on Sat, 01/31/2015 - 23:50

Greetings from Canada,

You might be our last hope as you are located directly in Hong Kong  and I am also hoping your readers might help us too, in order to find information about Mr. F. c. Cheung or C. Cheung (At an earlier stage of his life). We have eight oil paintings we strongly believe to be from the same man. Three earlier ones signed "c. cheung" and five later signed "F.c. cheung". It seems most all of his work is known of his later 1960 to mid 1970's signed "F.c. cheung" paintings mostly all on canvas. A few are for sale right now in small art galleries in Hawaii and England. Once in a while a private sale occurs on the internet. The style of painting is called ABSTRACT REALISM.

After alot of personnal research on the internet, contacting some private owners and contacting art galleries, even trying through the Chinese Embassy for Canada which we had no reply, this is what we currently know about this undeservingly obscure man:

Born in or around 1900 ~ 1910 (Presumed deceased at this time), he lived all his life in or near Hong Kong. He apparently painted for at least 50 years. All his know work subjects are scenes of the Hong Kong harbour and chinese junks. He was very productive and his work was picked up by many English art exporters for their simple beauty. It is rumored some of his works were exposed in a good gallery in South England in the 1960's. His work was sold in North and South America, Great Britain and Australia that we know.

This was on the back of an Fc Cheung painting (Not one of ours).Did Cheung share a Gallery with a Chau?:

"Blue Sky Arts, manufacturers and exporters of all kinds of best quality original oil paintings, frames, chinese scrolls and art craft."

Shop 140, "Cheung Chau Gallery", Deck 1, Ocean Terminal Shopping Arcade, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Ph # : 3-6779943 (Most likely no longer valid)

There is a reason why this mysterious man's works sold so well; they are simply unmatched in that style and presentation. The attachment photos  do not truly pay justice to these. One needs to see them up close to appreciate them.

My wife and I would very much like to immortalize the work of a great Chinese painter that truly deserves it. We are dedicated in creating a web site where many of our fellow Cheung art appreciators could come and post their own paintings. A website dedicated to C. Cheung/ F.C. Cheung.

Is it possible to locate a death certificate, pictures of the man, remaining relatives or any other information? 

Again we believe he was Born c. Cheung and that later on, in order to help differentiate himself, added the capital "F" to his name. Adding surnames or suffixes In China was popular at that time we know. We might be wrong but the works have too many shared distinctive styles, execution and colours and a signature expert told us that the early "C. Cheung" signatures look like someone just starting to learn to sign his name and that both signatures are very similar and quite possibly from the same hand. We speculate he indeed might have been told at some point (1950's?) to sign his work in English for exporting sales appeal. If no records exists, I would first ask older painters in Hong Kong's art district if they remember F.c. Cheung. We cannot believe this talented and productive artist is destined to total obscurity. He was still painting up until the mid 1970's that we know; surely someone in the art world of Hong Kong still remembers him.

CAN YOU HELP US IMMORTALIZE F.C. CHEUNG, A CHINESE MAN THAT GAVE SO MUCH BEAUTY TO THE ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH WORLD TO APPRECIATE?

My wife and I and many other proud owners of the late Mr. Cheung's work I am sure, would like to THANK YOU in advance for any help and information you could provide us. In the meantime we are keeping hope we will eventually honour a truly talented Chinese artist who gave many of the world the sights and beauty of a truly exotic place.

Best Regards,

 

 

Thanks for showing the painting of the old fisherman. Very nice  indeed!!

If it was signed by C. Cheung, it is surely from C. Cheung. At best, we can imagine that is the name more or less of a master, or even the master of a group of painter-workers who mass-produced paintings in which 'C. Cheung' is used as a brand name. It is true we are a bit hard to know about the confusion!

Regards

Tung

 

When an artist gets really happy about his work done, he will sign his signature in a very serious manner just like a note of confirmation about his fame and authenticity. That has to be consistent in style and size (or in proportion), cleanly done to be identifyable, and never with an almost dried-out brush or pen. It is often done as a most careful manner without urgency.

Now you are the judge...

Regards

Tung

 

Hi , my name is Jason and I’ve bought these 2 pieces and just love them I agree that he is seriously under rated and  at present , undiscovered , though not for long ,these 2 paintings seem to me to be from the same artist and were bought from the same collector , however as you can see one has a pre anglicised signature while the other clearly signed in the anglicised C Cheung , I hope this helps to get this artist the recognition he clearly deserves!

I've had a C. Cheung painting for quite some time. It was given to me by my father who had purchased it in Hong Kong some time in the 1960's. I to have been searching for inforamtion on this artist as the painting is rather Large - 58 inch by 28 inchs. Here is a picuter of this painting. 

 

IMG_7952.jpg
IMG_7952.jpg, by C. Cheung

Hi,

I too have a wonderful textured painting on canvas and was looking for more information. I wondered if you could help with the photos provided of the lake, mountain and trees with small houses

I cant find a way to post the photos though! Please may you advise? I am happy to email them to you? 

Thank you

Artist in Harbour Village
Artist in Harbour Village, by Andrew Suddaby

Hi,

I took this photograph in August 1981 while staying at the Hong Kong Hotel.  As far as I can remember there were several small artisan shops in what was called the Harbour Village.  It occupied one or more of the upper floors in the Star House building next to the hotel.  Is this the same artist?  It might be possible to read what looks like his name on the card in the centre of the table.

I have two paintings that have been in my family for decades.  There's one in Oklahoma and another in Greece.  Information as to their origin has been difficult to come by. They were either purchased in Greece or possibly in Hong Kong by a family member who was a Greek Merchant Marine, but I do know they were purchased together.

One of the paintings has a clear Cheung signature that match others that I've seen on this thread. I cannot find any information on the second signature. I'll post pics of both paintings and their signatures. The styles and subject matter are very similar.  I'm hoping to find more information on both of these great artists.

Both paintings are about 56"x27"

IMG-a36229f71e31494545c657280f1870b8-V.jpg
IMG-a36229f71e31494545c657280f1870b8-V.jpg, by PicardDay
IMG-cb8415b21d284523a73747de726c870b-V.jpg
IMG-cb8415b21d284523a73747de726c870b-V.jpg, by PicardDay
20200926_183221.jpg
20200926_183221.jpg, by PicardDay
20200926_183310.jpg
20200926_183310.jpg, by PicardDay

I have found a painting signed C. Cheung outside a store that had a pile of unused items ready for trash collectors. The painting and frame are in a bad state and have been exposed to the Australian sun during the recent very hot days... I have uploaded the picture. Please get in touch if you are interested.

Emilie

9636859D-26D0-4CCA-A13E-3F34784C8BA2.jpeg
9636859D-26D0-4CCA-A13E-3F34784C8BA2.jpeg, by Emilie Kolb

 

18303574-D555-43ED-AB73-C0C7AC6C4007.jpeg
18303574-D555-43ED-AB73-C0C7AC6C4007.jpeg, by Emilie Kolb

 

BCD0F9D8-3601-4476-B68C-C758ED2C994E.jpeg
BCD0F9D8-3601-4476-B68C-C758ED2C994E.jpeg, by Emilie Kolb

 

I believe I have some paintings that are related to this artist. The signatures look identical the C.Cheung. I don't have much knowledge with artwork pieces and I would like some more information about what I would do with these beautiful works. My husband was given about 6 or so paintings from one of his clients when they were renovating as they no longer wanted them, 3 of them I believe are C.Cheung after coming accross this page. If anyone could provide some help it would be appreciated, Thank you. 

272FAD77-A30E-466D-9C50-4C7C5E652073.jpeg
272FAD77-A30E-466D-9C50-4C7C5E652073.jpeg, by C.Cheung

 

1231C086-2A40-41C8-B529-585126C50841.jpeg
1231C086-2A40-41C8-B529-585126C50841.jpeg, by C.Cheung

 

ABD75254-C183-47D0-89D2-BC20945D110A.jpeg
ABD75254-C183-47D0-89D2-BC20945D110A.jpeg, by C.Cheung

Greetings from perhaps a different part of Canada.

It was with considerable interest that I read the comments on this discussion about C. Chung.  Quite by accident, I discovered one of his paintings in the collection of art that my Mom left in her house as we cleared it out to put it on the market.

The art work is quite colourful and the style consistent with other works posted here.  Also his signature on the bottom left appears to be identical to some of the others.  I believe my Mom acquired this painting in 1967 during a cruise stopover in Honk Kong while she was returning from Australia to Canada.

While it certainly is a lovely work, I am not sure whether I should keep it or sell it?

C_Chung_pic_2lg.jpg
C_Chung_pic_2lg.jpg, by Grant Smith

 

C_Chung_pic_1lg.jpg
C_Chung_pic_1lg.jpg, by Grant Smith

Hi Pauline, I was doing a job for a client and he collects paintings and hopes to sell but he had on of the pipe smoking Chinese man and I seemed to recall seeing it on the Gwulo site. It is the same sitter , robes , hat but different pipe. My client saved it frome going to the tip. You can see in the different light that the original owners have over painted the signature , probably thinking it over bearing and detracted from the work. Not a hard job to melt that paint off but it has to be a C Cheung. regards Vaughan Cullen

C Cheung
{C}C Cheung, by Vaughan Cullen{C}

We just picked this up at antique collectors' place because we loved the aesthetic and wondered about its origin.  See label and signature. 

 

PASTED IMAGE DELETED

I am researching a painting signed CC Cheung and the signatures and style are very similar. It is for an elderly lady I work for. I’m wondering if this is the same artist?