LOT 65
Ong Kim Seng
B. Singapore, 1945
Amoy Street, Singapore, 2012
Signed and dated on lower right
Watercolour on paper
36 x 26 cm
Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
Illustrated on page 17 of “ONG KIM SENG Malaysia 2nd Solo Exhibition, Different Lands…in watercolours” exhibition catalogue
Published in 2014 by Interpr8 Art Space
RM 5,000 – RM 8,000
Through Ong Kim Seng’s incredible skills and expertise in capturing the most picturesque of places, we are granted the opportunity to gaze into what other people would normally brush off. To plain eyes they may seem nondescript and lack the appeal that would pass for a masterpiece, but Ong Kim Seng has managed to change the perception of even such a common setting such as that.
It becomes a mesmerising piece, holding the viewer’s attention and eyes captive for long moments as if one could experience the piece itself, and feel the connection the artist himself had with the place. After all, it was Ong himself who said that in order for a masterpiece to come alive, it needs to have been born out of a special connection between the artist and the setting. As such, the piece becomes spectacular due to the way Ong expresses the beauty and atmosphere of the setting’s simplicity.
Ong Kim Seng was born in Singapore and has been a full-time artist since 1985. Among the awards that he has won from the American Watercolour Society are the Paul B. Remmy Memorial Award in 1983, the Lucy B. Moore Award in 1988 and the Clara Stroud Memorial Award 1989, just to name a few. The National Heritage Board of Singapore has over 95 pieces of Ong Kim Seng’s artworks.