LOT 22
Lee Long Looi
B. Kedah, 1942
Two Sisters
Signed “Long Looi Lee” on lower left
Batik on rice paper
61 x 51 cm
Provenance Private Collection, Canada
RM 4,000 – RM 6,000
Captured on paper are these portraits of two women, fashioned with the distinctive Lee Long Looi technique of elongating the features and the face. The mood is serene, contemplative and with slight contrition. Done in lovely, delicate and soft colours with streaks of batik patterns, they are all wearing a neutral mien, their eyes downcast. These ladies are reminiscent of nymphs, as the atmosphere is almost spiritual.
Born in 1942 in Kedah, Malaysia, Lee Long Looi graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore and moved to New York to further his studies at the Art Students League and then at the Pratt Institute. He combines both elements of his Asian heritage and Western techniques in his paintings, and his works are displayed in Citibank, ABC Television, the Gulf Bank of Miami and many more.