LOT 21
KHALIL IBRAHIM
B. Kelantan, 1934 – 2018
Permulaan, 1983
Signed and dated “Khalil Ibrahim 83” on lower left
Batik
95 x 115 cm
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 45,000 – RM 85,000
From landscapes to his series of study in rural themes of Malay girls and children, the late Khalil Ibrahim had a knack of producing batik masterpieces, which proved notable and successful. Khalil was already an established artist before venturing into the batik art medium. By then, he already had a full grasp of batik painting and was searching for new themes. It seemed to Khalil that any subject matter suitable for oil painting was adaptable to batik painting.
In a 1970’s article written by Frank Sullivan for the New Straits Times, Sullivan elaborated that Khalil’s study series of Malay girls and children in batik had an appealing grace and charm to it. The execution of these works focused on bringing the subjects to the foreground, by using a relatively plain background. Without realising it, Khalil became the first Malaysian artist to produce a batik portrait directly from the model, which proved to be an impressive feat.