LOT 28
ONG KIM SENG
B. Singapore, 1945
Market Scene – Junction of Terengganu and Temple Street, Singapore, 1979
Watercolour on paper
36.2 x 53.3 cm
Private Collection, Singapore
Signed and dated “Seng 79” on lower left
RM 14,000 – 28,000
Ong Kim Seng’s exquisite rendition of a market scene in Temple Street, Singapore in the 1970’s, portrays his masterful skill and immaculate detailing from the heritage buildings to the antics of people walking about. Ong Kim Seng is an internationally acclaimed water-colourist who has mastered the manipulation of darks in order to give his paintings a luminous glow hence the depth of his paintings. Merging concepts with finesse of execution, the artist presents representative images which are also ethereal in their beauty, flawless in their elemental flow and appropriation of light. The self-taught artist has garnered multiple accolades, including the Cultural Medallion in 1990 and seven awards by the American Watercolour Society. To him, “Art is a continuous journey. There may be pitfalls and times where you get stuck. It is up to one to choose a path and go along with it.” As an en plein-air realist painter, he stays true to his subject-matter, but continues to add an element of intrigue to it by varying the vantage points of his paintings.