LOT 38
SEAH KIM JOO
B. Singapore, 1939
Mother and Child
Signed on lower right
Batik
90 x 60 cm
Provenance Private Collection, America
RM 6,000 – RM 9,000
Posing in this batik piece is an elegant, graceful woman and another figure in the background. Seah Kim Joo showcases his skills for detailing with his intricate designs that surround the subject of the piece. With the stonewashed-like brown colouring, he gives it a more aged, antique quality to it. The classical appearance teamed with the poised woman makes it both haunting and mysterious.
Born in Singapore in the year 1939, Seah Kim Joo was raised in Terengganu, during which he was exposed to the process of traditional batik-making. He studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1959 before returning to Malaysia to enhance his batik skills through his travels around the east coast. After having won the First Prize at the Malayan Federation Open Art Competition two years in a row, he has then been recognised for his use of dye-and-resist technique in batik. His murals
have adorned the Singapore Pavilion, and one of his paintings was selected for Singapore’s commemorative stamp series.