LOT 36
IBRAHIM HUSSEIN, DATUK
B. Kedah, 1936-2009
Mother and Child, 1964
Signed and dated “ibrahim hussein 64” on lower right
Signed, dated and inscribed “ibrahim hussein ‘64 mother and child” in pencil on lower edge of paper
Gouache on magazine page
33 x 25 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
Exhibited at Ibrahim Hussein’s solo exhibition at Gallerie Internationale, New York in 1964
Illustrated in the exhibition catalogue
SOLD
RM 67,632.00
“In the summer of ‘64, I took with me a portfolio of 50 gouaches to New York, I put up with a friend, the portrait painter of the former Shah of Iran. I went to the Life and Times Magazine office to see a friend I knew in New York and he introduced me to the Time art critic who gave me the names of art galleries in New York and the address of the Gallerie Internationale in Madison Avenue. Like a school boy with my over-sized portfolio I went to Gallerie and demanded to see the art director who wasn’t in at the time. I left my paintings there. Three days later, they offered me a one-man exhibition and a contract to work for the Gallerie. A week later, they sent me a cheque for the sale of 10 gouaches. I asked for the return of the rest of the paintings and left for Washington.” – stated by Ib in his Retrospective published by the National Art Gallery in 1986, with this piece included in the aforementioned Gallerie exhibition. This exhibition was eventually held in New York in April 1964. It was during that time that also appeared on a television talk show for the first time in his life and made the front page of the Charlotte Observer, a still-renowned newspaper based in North Carolina.
Ib was born in Sungai Limau, Kedah, in 1936. He studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore in 1956 and then moved to London, where he continued his studies at the Byam Shaw School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. He travelled to France and Italy after being awarded an Award of Merit scholarship. He also founded the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation in the Langkawi rainforest, which is a non-profit foundation and museum committed to promoting, developing and advancing art and culture.