Lot 445: Suong Yangchareon O/C LA Street Scene Painting, 1993, Hoop

Suong Yangchareon (Thailand/California, b. 1952) oil on canvas Los Angeles, California cityscape or street scene painting, titled “Hoop.” Shadows extend across an empty street and fill the foreground while sunlight illuminates an RV and a group of tall palms at left. Signed and dated, lower right. Additionally signed, dated, and titled en verso. Housed in a simple wooden frame. Canvas: 32 in. H x 46 in. W. Framed: 32 7/16 in. H x 46 7/16 in. W. 1993. Biography: “Known for his scenes of southern California, especially close ups of buildings and street scenes, Suong Yangchareon spends much time driving the back roads of the Los Angeles area in the early morning when people are barely awake and the pace is slow. He calls these trips his “urban safaris” and paints in his studio from the resulting photographs that are taken because of special textures, colors, and designs. Yangchareon is from Lampang, Thailand and as a child in the 1950s saw hundreds of American movies because his father was part owner of a movie theatre. These movies whetted his appetite for all things American, including a special love for the country-western music of Hank Williams. He studied art in Bangkok and developed a special interest in the work of Californian Richard Diebenkorn. He wrote to his older sister who lived in Los Angeles, and she invited him to come there. Arriving on May 22, 1974 on a one-way ticket, he enrolled in the Woodbury Institute, a small business school with a commercial art program. For a while he worked as a full-time photographer, while pursuing his great love of painting. From 1989, he has been painting professionally.” (Source: Southwest Art,” July 2001). 

PROVENANCE: Private California-Nashville collection.

CONDITION: Excellent condition. Frame with minor abrasions.