LOT 25
TAN THEAN SONG
B. Kedah, 1946 – 2017
Resting Batik, 1970’s
Signed and dated “Thean Song 69” on lower left
Batik
74.5 x 49 cm
Private Collection, USA
RM 2,000 – RM 3,800
Tan Thean Song works mainly in the batik medium, although he also paints in watercolours and Chinese ink. This 1961 work has a muted backdrop with the typical cracking-line technique. It shows a group of ladies clad in sarongs, in their respective kampung houses resting on stilts and surrounded by nature. Tan studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art in Singapore and won the 2nd Prize (Batik) in the 1969 Salon Malaysia with Flying Kite, which is now in the collection of the National Art Gallery. Tan also won 1st Prize in the Malayan Young Artists competition in 1964. He took part in the Adelaide Expo when Georgetown and Adelaide sealed their ‘sister cities’ relationship in 1974.