LOT 23
CHUAH THEAN TENG, DATO’
B. China, 1914 – 2008
Threshing Rice, 1980’s
Signed “Teng” on lower left
Batik
89 x 60 cm
Private Collection, Canada
RM 25,000 – RM 65,000
Dato’ Chuah Thean Teng was born in China in 1914, where he studied at the Amoy Art School. Teng first started in this medium in 1953 and therefore he can be considered the father of Batik Painting in Malaysia.
He says, “Art is the vision of the artist, his creation, imagination and expression reflecting the artist’s many degrees of feeling. It is an interplay of both emotional and visual expression where the illusions created convey the statements across. And through the different modes of expressions, we are compelled to seek some standard of value to enable us to distinguish between them. This distinction is called the transformation of things.”
In terms of Dato’ Chuah Thean Teng’s Threshing Rice piece, this is a work that is quintessentially Teng (as he is affectionately known). All the hallmarks of gesture, form and colours are depicted: colour harmony with the subtle nuances of red, blue and green, the close-cropped composition alongside the elegant configurations. According to Frank Sullivan, “His (referring to Dato’ Chuah Thean Teng) productivity in batik painting is enormous…never satisfied, he is always experimenting, seeking to give new depth and range to his batik art.”