WILLOW SCENERY

Raymond Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, a South of France city, in 1909. After successive missions in Morocco he was sent in 1953 to Hong Kong as a sales attaché at the French Embassy. He was in charge of developing commercial ties between France and the former British colony. He then met Lin Fengmian through his colleagues at the Embassy who appreciated Lin's paintings, wellknown in the expatriate circle of the time. In the 1950s, Mr Grimaud acquired the two works Willow Scenery (Lot 390) and Egret Walking Through a Field of Reeds (Lot 391) directly from the artist during his visit to Hong Kong. He developed a deep friendship with the artist and decided to naturally name his first born son Lin Grimaud, the current owner of the paintings, as a touching homage to the artist. As his wife was travelling back to Marseille in France to give birth, the anecdote says that Raymond Grimaud sent a telegram stating only 'Lin obligatory', thus giving their son the unusual first name Lin on October 11, 1953.