Huang Yongyu (b.1924)

signed HUANG YONGYU, dated 1976, with a dedication to William Hinton, and with five seals of the artist

- Generally in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

HUANG YONGYU PAINTINGS PREVIOUSLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF WILLIAM HINTON (LOTS 1161 - 1162)

William Howard Hinton (1919-2004) was a prolific writer, best known for his extensive writings chronicling on China's land reform program that helped shape Western understanding of China's revolution. Throughout his life, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the cause of revolution and construction, and sought ways to build and strengthen the friendship between the people of China and America. The late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai described him as "a friend in a time of need to the Chinese people".

Born in Chicago, Hinton was the son of a lawyer and an educator. Accepted by Harvard at the age of just seventeen, he deferred his matriculation, choosing instead to work his way to Northeast China, Japanese-occupied Korea and Russia. One year later, he attended Harvard for two years, before transferring to Cornell University, where he graduated with a Bachelor degree in agronomy and dairy husbandry. During World War 2, he returned to China as a propaganda analyst for the Office of War Information. At the Chongqing peace talks between the Chinese Communist Party and Kuomintang, he became acquainted with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. Two years later, he returned to China as a tractor technician for the United Nations. When the program ended, he stayed on as an English teacher in suburban areas, taking an active part in local land reform, taking careful notes of his daily accounts of over a thousand pages on the reform process and village life.

In 1953, at the height of the Second Red Scare, he returned to USA. His passport was seized and his notes confiscated by the Senate Committee on Internal Security. Only after a long and bitter legal battle that lasted five years was he finally able to recover his notes, whereupon he began writing Fanshen, the book that documented land reform in Low Bow village. Published in 1966, it later became hugely successful and was translated into ten languages, including Chinese under the special request of Zhou Enlai. In 1971, he was invited by Zhou to visit China, where he resumed working as an agricultural advisor. From 1974 to 1976, he served as the first Chairman of the US-China People's Friendship Association. Throughout his life, he visited China over thirty times, and was met by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and other state leaders respectively. During his stay, he continued to document the achievements of Revolutionary China and Chinese and Mongolian culture, publishing Iron Oxen and Shenfan etc.. He died of heart failure at the age of 85 in Massachusetts.