LOT 38
LYE YAU FATT
B. Kedah, 1950
Resting, 1983
Signed on the lower right
Mixed media on paper
77.5 x 42.5 cm
Private Collection Selangor
RM 13,000 – 27,000
Being mentored by Cheong Soo Pieng, Lye Yau Fatt admitted to being very inspired by Cheong’s idea and compositions of art but despite all that, he often produced artworks that were full on the Malaysian theme and lifestyle. Known for his use of warm, earthy tones and deriving inspiration from mundane and monotonous settings in life, he paints on canvas a private moment between two women as they take a break between their chores. The women are seated together in the midst of nature, by a river, and viewers can almost imagine the mystifying scene concocted by the artist. 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, the pure epitome of serenity. 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.