1969 Lam Promotional Pictorial View of Hong Kong
HongKong-lam-1969$1,500.00
Title
Hong Kong.
1969 (dated) 34 x 22.75 in (86.36 x 57.785 cm)
1969 (dated) 34 x 22.75 in (86.36 x 57.785 cm)
Description
This is a striking 1969 large-format promotional tourist poster for Hong Kong drawn by David Lam Chun-fai for the Hong Kong Tourist Association. It is highly evocative, giving a strong sense of the city's distinctive urban atmosphere.
Most of the signs are deliberately partially obscured, but a couple can be read in full and refer to popular restaurants and shops of the era, since closed, such as the dim sum restaurant Kum Kong (襟江酒家) and the jewelry shop Tung Shing (東成老金鋪), both of which were located in Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中).
This poster, one of a series of four that Lam did for the Tourist Association, won the international graphic art poster competition at the annual general assembly of the International Union of Official Travel Organisations (IUOTO) in Dublin in 1969.
A Closer Look
The poster contains a series of images emblematic of the Hong Kong of the day, beginning with a view of Victoria Peak. At the center is a mélange combining common street scenes in Hong Kong, including narrow streets, a double-decker bus, and signs advertising hotels and restaurants that compete for space in the dense urban landscape.Most of the signs are deliberately partially obscured, but a couple can be read in full and refer to popular restaurants and shops of the era, since closed, such as the dim sum restaurant Kum Kong (襟江酒家) and the jewelry shop Tung Shing (東成老金鋪), both of which were located in Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中).
This poster, one of a series of four that Lam did for the Tourist Association, won the international graphic art poster competition at the annual general assembly of the International Union of Official Travel Organisations (IUOTO) in Dublin in 1969.
Publication History and Census
This poster was prepared by local artist David Lam Chun-fai (林鎮輝), whose seal and signature appear at right, in 1969 for the Hong Kong Tourist Association (香港旅遊協會). We are aware of examples held by only two institutions: the Hong Kong Baptist University and the M+ art museum in Kowloon.Cartographer
David Lam Chun-fai (林鎮輝; 1932 - February 21, 2013) was a Hong Kong born Canadian artist. Lam began producing art in the 1950s while studying with Lee Byng (1903 - 1994), who had trained in Canada. As a young man, he was an assistant curator at the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, precursor to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. In 1965, Lam himself moved to Canada, while maintaining strong ties with Hong Kong and was a founding member of the Circle Art Group there, along with Hon Chi-Fun (1922 - 2019), Cheung Yee (1936 - 2019), and Van Lau (1933 - present). Around the time of his relocation to Canada, Lam also began to receive recognition of his work, receiving first prize in the Hong Kong Open Art Competition. He was commissioned for paintings of commercial buildings in Hong Kong, including the Hilton Hotel (Hong Kong's first five-star hotel), in 1963 and for a series of four posters by the Hong Kong Tourist Association in 1969. Lam's style, most indicative in his watercolor landscapes, combined traditional Chinese landscape painting with Western influences. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Very good. Laid down on poster linen. Neutralized mold discoloration lower left corner.
References
OCLC 10028516617. M+ Object Number: 2018.23.