LOT 2
RAPHAEL SCOTT AHBENG
B. Sarawak, 1939
Padawan, 2014
Signed, titled and dated “RSA ‘14 Padawan” on lower right
Acrylic on canvas
118 x 89 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
SOLD
RM 5,974.16
This piece is engulfed in various shapes, colours and shades. Struck with visual wonder, the audience is left to discover more and more colours as they explore the canvas, each colour special and diverse, as trees and floras are in the forests. This variation of nature just seems to pull the viewer in, coaxing them to take a longer look, as there are many more colours to discover and to get acquainted with. Perhaps this is how Raphael Scott AhBeng sees plants, leaves and flowers collectively – he sees them as having their own aura, their own colour and own shapes in spite of their original and natural colour.
Raphael Scott AhBeng, a Bidayuh, hails from Sarawak and is one of the most prominent Borneo artists. He attended Bath Academy of Art in Britain, where he studied Art and Photography. He won the First Prize for the Sarawak Shell Open art competition in 1959, 1982 and 1983 Third Prize in the Natural Malaysia art competition in Kuala Lumpur in 1991.