Lot 42 | Auction XXIII

LOT 42

LYE YAU FATT
B. Kedah, 1950

Flowers in a Vase, 2016

Signed and dated on lower right

Oil on canvas

63 x 75 cm

Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur

SOLD
RM 8,454.00

Artist Lye Yau Fatt has a proclivity for looking for themes and substance for his art pieces in regular objects. This is clearly demonstrated by this still-life piece, the objects are systematically executed, with precision and absolute care for neatness. The intricacy of his techniques in this piece, making this truly something that reminds you of a Nyonya home – simple yet lovely. It brings a nostalgic feeling of antiquity, a Chinese Peranakan culture .

If you look carefully, you will see there are certain elements which can mean different things. He exquisitely paints a set of Famille Rose teapot and cup, some red Saga seeds along with flowers in an old vase . Red Saga seeds (called “xiang si dou” in Chinese) meaning “mutual love seed” is a symbol of love.

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.