LOT 27
Lye Yau Fatt
B. Kedah, 1950
Favourite Pastime, 1976
Signed and dated “HENRYLYE 1976” on lower left
Oil on canvas
96.5 x 75.5 cm
Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 12,000 – RM 22,000
Known for his use of warm, earthy tones and deriving inspiration from mundane and monotonous settings in life, he draws on canvas a private moment between family and friends.
These four women are seated together in the midst of nature, perhaps a garden, where they are quietly gathered around each other. A toddler rests on his mother’s lap and another is fervently listening to the conversation. The atmosphere seems muted and quiet, it is as if the ladies are whispering to one another stories and gossip. Viewers almost feel as if they are imposing on the exclusivity of the moment, and the intricacy of the design of this piece makes it seem even more homelier and cosy – much like the relationship between the women.
Lye Yau Fatt was born in Kedah in 1950, he studied printmaking in New York. He held his first solo exhibition in 1979 at the Sum Art Gallery and has then gone on to win the Open Art Sculpture Award, the Malaysian Watercolour Society Award in 1987 and the PNB Watercolour Landscape Award.