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Sorry, It's Sold

Tong War Illustration

Artist:Pedro Llanuza
Date:1930
Medium:Grey scale gouache on artist's paper
Dimensions:11.25" x 18.5" matted to 17.25" x 25"
Condition:Fine
Original Use:Interior Illustration for Tong War
a traditionally dressed Chinese maiden surrounded by ghostly hands with pointed fingers
Full view of greyscale gouache

Shortly after the Armistice of 1918 brought an end to World War I, an outbreak of violence within San Francisco’s Chinatown attracted national attention, and raised awareness of the off-and-on gangland violence known as the Tong wars. As San Francisco became known as home to the largest Chinese population anywhere outside of Asia, fascination about the insular Chinatown community, and Orientalist inspired flights of fancy based on rumors of its exotic and lurid underbelly became pronounced. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a spate of interest in the prostitution and drug rings that fueled the Tong Wars, and the “hatchet men” who were the enforcers for each Tong. In many ways analogous to Mafia families, Tong stories were popular staples of pulp fiction, and pre-code film. Edward G. Robinson, best known for his tough-guy gangster roles, even played a hatchet man in the 1932 film of the same name.

This greyscale gouache on artist’s paper shows a shows a beautiful maiden, identified as “Bow Kim–Little Sweet Flower–[who] precipitated a bloody war.” It appears as a bookplate in the 1930 book “Tong War!” by Eng Ying Gong and Bruce Grant. We have not been able to learn much about the artist Pedro Llanuza beyond his illustrations for this work, but his skillful art deco presentation and strong command of shading and storytelling speak to his talent and imagination.

Matted and ready to frame
Matted and ready to frame
The artist’s signature lower right
The illustration as it appears in “Tong War! A Complete History…” 1930
Title Page for Tong War!
Title Page for Tong War!

Tong War Illustration

Artist: Pedro Llanuza

Filed Under: Paperback & Pulp Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: art deco, Chinese, gouache, pedro llanuza, pulp, San Francisco, Tong War
Added to Gallery: May 13, 2019

 

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