LOT 81
ABDUL LATIFF MOHIDIN
B. Negeri Sembilan, 1941
Siri Pago Pago, Bangkok & Saudara Syed Ahmad Jamal Puisi (verso), 1964
Pen on paper
14 x 10 cm
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
Formerly in the collection of Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal. Signed A.L. on lower right on the verso
RM 25,000 – 40,000
Abdul Latiff Mohidin (b. 1941, Negeri Sembilan) is one of Southeast Asia’s most important modern artists, widely recognised for his groundbreaking Pago Pago series created during the 1960s. Having trained in West Berlin at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Latiff developed a distinctive visual language that drew upon Southeast Asian identity, spirituality, and nature, while conversing with international modernism. The Pago Pago series, produced between 1964 and 1969, is now regarded as a seminal body of work that positioned him as a pioneering voice in the region’s modern art history. This 1964 ink on paper work, Siri Pago Pago, Bangkok, embodies the organic, totemic forms that define the series, evoking both the tropical environment and the inner, spiritual landscapes that inspired Latiff’s artistic vision. On the verso, the artist inscribed a poem dedicated to his contemporary and close friend, Syed Ahmad Jamal, offering a rare glimpse into the intellectual and artistic dialogues that shaped Malaysia’s modern art movement. The combination of image and verse encapsulates Latiff’s multidisciplinary approach as both painter and poet, and situates this work as a profound document of friendship, creativity, and cultural identity at a pivotal moment in his career.