LOT 14
Long Thien Shih
B. Selangor, 1946
Aqua – Marine Series “Gilded Triggerfish”, 2001
Signed, titled and dated “Thien Shih 2001 Gilded Triggerfish” on lower right
Pastel on paper
57 x 77cm
Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 2,800 – RM 6,000
Taking a different turn from his usual landscape works, Long Thien Shih employed the use of pastel on paper for this piece. Fish as a subject matter is highly decorative on its own, but when captured in art, it becomes a totally ornamental masterpiece.
Captured here are the gilded triggerfish, a species widely but locally distributed at islands in the Indo-Pacific. These domesticated common carp are illustrated beautiful with such vibrant and saturated colour, as the qualities of these blue-cheeked and yellow-bordered species are translated beautifully by the artist.
Long Thien Shih studied art in Atelier 17 and Atelier de Lithographic, Ecole Nationale Superlure des Beaux-Arts, both in Paris. Thereafter, he studied at the Royal College of Art in London. He has won awards such as the First Prize in the 1961 Young Malayan Artists Competition in Kuala Lumpur and the 1992 Prints Prize in Salon Malaysia and has produced many artworks, using various mediums.