LOT 37
ABDULLAH ARIFF
B. Penang, 1904 – 1962
Hilly Road, 1956
Watercolour on paper
35 x 50 cm
Private Collection, USA
Signed and dated “Abdullah Ariff, 56” on lower left
RM 38,000 – 55,000
Abdullah Ariff was an art teacher at the Anglo-Chinese School in Penang. He, along with fellow artist Yong Mun Sen were the forerunners of watercolour painting in Malaysia. They were also the only two local members of the Penang Impressionists club, an art group whose members were made up of European colonials. In 1947, he worked for the Straits Echo newspapers in Kuala Lumpur as a cartoonist. He held his first few solo exhibitions at the Mint Museum, the Ownbey Hall and the Malayan Embassy in the United States. A road in Air Itam, Penang, is named after him, making him the only artist to ever receive such an accolade. His personal philosophy was, “Art has no obstacles”.