LOT 62
SEAH KIM JOO
B. Singapore, 1939
Abstract
Signed on middle right
Batik
63 x 89 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Canada
RM 6,000 – RM 12,000
Known as one of the first few advocates of traditional batik-painting, Seah Kim Joo illustrates a soft dreamy canvas this time. Set against a background that suggests at the cross between fantasy and reality, the crackling lines of the batik with haphazard dots and scatterings of faint whites provide the illusion of petals, and the entire piece simply speaks quiescence. Born in Singapore in the year 1939, Seah Kim Joo was raised in Terengganu, during which he was exposed to the process of traditional batik-making.
He studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1959 before returning to Malaysia to enhance his batik skills through his travels around the east coast. After having won the First Prize at the Malayan Federation Open Art Competition two years in a row, he has then been recognised for his use of dye-andresist technique in batik. His murals have adorned the Singapore Pavilion, and one of his paintings was selected for Singapore’s commemorative stamp series.