LOT 75
KHOO SUI HOE
(B. Kedah, 1939)
Swimmers Two, 2013
Signed “SUI HOE” on lower right
Signed, titled and dated on verso
Oil on canvas
82.5 x 100 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
SOLD – RM 28,320
Two figures are seen floating above the calm waters. They are at ease, relaxed with their eyes shut in bliss. This is a painting of peace and rest.
“I paint to glorify the gift bestowed upon me. Art is like a religion,” said Khoo Sui Hoe, and true enough, there is an omnipresent and resilient spiritual presence and aura in his paintings. Anyone familiar with his works would most definitely say that Khoo Sui Hoe has a way with the emotive power of colours and compositional qualities. It was his trademark.
Most of his works relate to his life journey, as he himself has said that, “My paintings are my memory, my recollections during my childhood days in the kampong.” These paintings were the documentations of his struggles (such as his rebellious years in NAFA), his dreams, courtships, marriage, children, weddings, travels (as seen in his Cameron Highlands and Bali landscapes), before settling into a period where there were many rainbow hues present in his paintings … perhaps hinting at the settled and secure feeling in life.