YOUNG, JOHN CHIN (1909-1997)

"Untitled" (1973)
oil on canvas
90 x 60cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Melbourne
 
Young was a prominent Chinese-Hawaiian Abstract Expressionist. He began drawing at the age of eight, stimulated by Chinese calligraphy, which he learned in Chinese language school. Young had his first and only art lessons while a student at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu. Thereafter, his art was entirely self-taught. Young is best known for his Zen-like depictions of horses (such as the untitled watercolor), paintings of children (such as Children on Carousel), and abstractions (such as Tantalus). Over the years, he acquired an important collection of ancient Asian art, which he donated to the Honolulu Museum of Art and the University of Hawaii at Manoa as the John Young Museum. During his 60 years as a working artist, Young exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Art. His works are represented in Important Public Institutions such as The Art Institute of Chicago, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (California).