LOT 28
SEAH KIM JOO
B. Singapore, 1939
Fisherfolks, 1974
Signed on lower left. Comes with original receipt of purchase from Seah Gallery dated 1974 on verso
Batik
90 x 60 cm
Private Collection, Singapore
RM 8,000 – 15,000
It was Seah Kim Joo’s hometown in Terengganu that exposed him to batik in his early days. His passion for batik painting only grew in the 1950s, when the Penang- based artist Chuah Thean Teng first pioneered painting using the batik medium. It also resulted in Seah being an ardent follower of the late Chuah and his works, since the manifestation of contemporary themes in a traditional medium was regarded as a direct expression of Nanyang regionalism. Seah’s works are about nature and people, apart from occasional abstract pieces. Perhaps it was the cultural background of his hometown in Terengganu that influenced his choice of subject matters. Ever equipped with an ethereal quality, ‘Fisherfolks’ is a batik work rendered in an orange hue, with fishing boats floating in a distance and in the foregrounds, two fishermen are portrayed with a cloth around their head and dressed in sarong and shirt, tending to their nets.