LOT 51
LYE YAU FATT
B. Kedah, 1950
Mother and Child, 1975
Inscribed and dated on the bottom of the granite base
Cement and granite, Edition 4/5
31 x 15 x 21 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
SOLD
RM 6,763.20
Works of art that reflect the mother-and-child theme evoke specific responses from observers – be it personal or through the artist himself. Most mother-and-child art places its focus on the relationship, as seen in this sculpture. The facial features are relaxed,
with their eyes close and lips prominent as per Lye Yau Fatt’s trademark style, allowing viewers to channel their own reflection and identification on the piece.
The oval-style of the sculpture that amalgamates the mother and child also represents the relationship between mother and child – unbreakable, and both seen as one.
The piece is simple, but heavy with meaning – that mothers are always holding their children close to them. The overall mood of the sculpture is sentimental and familial, while exuding both serenity and stability.
The self-taught 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. This sculpture is one of the only two sculptures that Lye Yau Fatt has produced in his career.