Lot 23 | 14 June 2025

 

 

LOT 23

ANTHONY POON

B. Singapore, 1945 – 2006

Aqueous Waves, 1984

Acrylic on canvas

182 x 182 cm

Private Collection, USA

Signed and dated “Anthony Poon ’84” on lower right. Label on the verso with full description of the artwork affixed by the studio of the artist.

This work was previously part of the Permanent Art Collection of Duke University Hospital and was made available by Arts & Health at Duke, https://art.pratt.duke.edu/artists/anthony-poon.

A similar artwork from Anthony Poon’s 1985 Wave series, rendered in shades of red, can be found among the 38 pieces in the Singapore National Heritage Board’s collection.

RM 350,000 – 450,000

Born in 1945, Anthony Poon was a pioneering figure in Singapore’s abstract art movement. After graduating from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1964, he furthered his studies at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London and the Regional College of Art in Bradford. Poon’s contributions to the arts were recognized with the Cultural Medallion in 1991.

Aqueous Waves was part of Singapore’s National Collection and was documented on Roots.sg, the National Heritage Board’s digital platform. This painting exemplifies Poon’s transition from rigid geometric forms to fluid, wave-like patterns. The composition features a chromatically restrained palette dominated by various shades of blue, ranging from light to deep navy, creating an illusion of undulating movement. Poon’s meticulous application of colour and form results in a seamless merger of surface and image, with block colorations and a lack of visible brushstrokes, emphasizing the painting’s abstract nature.