Lot 14
RAPHAEL SCOTT AHBENG
B. Sarawak, 1939
Early Morning, 2015
Signed, dated and titled “RSA 15, EARLY MORNING,GOBELT” on lower right
Acrylic on board
30 x 30 cm
Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 900 – RM 1,500
Raphael Scott Ahbeng has a particularly strong, individualist persona. He is mostly recognised for his energetic depictions of the Sarawakian rainforests and his bizarre interpretation of nature, making him distinct from his contemporaries. His abstract perspective of nature is not only robust, but unusual and odd to those who are used to naturalistic ways of painting them.
Here, his body of work takes a concrete approach with a depiction of a rural neighbourhood. Raphael masterfully uses pastel hues with acrylics to emphasise the erenity and peaceful nature of his subject matter.