LOT 39
LIM LEONG SENG
B. Singapore, 1950
Coolie Series, 2000
Sculpture
H: 58 cm x D: 31 cm x W: 20 cm
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Singapore
RM 6,000 – 12,000
A characterful tribute to Singapore’s working-class heritage, this bronze sculpture captures a labourer in motion, carrying a large gunny sack, an evocative image of the everyday workers once familiar in the bustling streets and back lanes of old Chinatown. The carefully observed posture and sturdy form give the figure a sense of dignity, strength and quiet perseverance, while the bronze medium lends permanence to a disappearingchapter of Singapore’s social history.
Lim Leong Seng is a celebrated Singaporean sculptor and painter whose practice frequently draws upon the country’s multicultural heritage andeveryday life. A graduate of Baharuddin Vocational Institute, he studied Chinese painting and Buddhist thought from an early age and became a full-time sculptor in 1990. His extensive body of work includes bronze sculptures depicting rickshaw riders, samsui women and other figures fromSingapore’s past. To date, Lim Leong Seng has created over 30 public sculptures which can be seen all over Singapore and received several major art awards, including the Jurors’ Choice at the Philip Morris Group of Companies Singapore Art Awards in 1997.