LOT 21
KHALIL IBRAHIM
B. Kelantan, 1934
East Coast Fishermen, 1995
Signed and dated “Khalil Ibrahim 95” on lower right
Watercolour on paper
27 x 36 cm
Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 2,000 – RM 4,000
The figures present in this painting are tightly-knitted and almost amalgamated, rendered tastefully by Khalil Ibrahim in abstract form.
These shapes and forms are bits and pieces of the human form, torn and cautiously reassembled in arbitrary strips of flowing colours. It is crowded and concentrated, different tones, moods, movements and perspectives, echoing Khalil Ibrahim’s earlier inclination for Expressionism and Expressionistic abstraction. This piece is swarming, condensed and strong yet exuding ambiguity. This piece could be considered a dance, an intermingling between shapes and figures, a lively yet wavering cadence behind it all, leaving it up to the viewer what to take from it.
Khalil Ibrahim graduated from the prestigious St. Martin’s School of Art & Design, United Kingdom in 1964. Thereafter, he became a full-time artist and has been so for fifty years now. He has held solo and group exhibitions in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Switzerland, with most of his works center on figures and are heavily influenced by East Coast fishermen and women.