LOT 82
Chin Kon Yit
B. Selangor, 1950
Village Scene, 2011
Signed and dated “KON YIT 2011” on lower middle
Signed and dated on reverse
Oil on canvas
36 x 36 cm
Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
RM 1,500 – RM 2,500
Chin Kon Yit, on painting Malaysia’s landmarks: “It was an honour to rediscover my country and its beautiful buildings, landmarks, everyday street scenes and traditional trades around Malaysia.”
Chin is saddened by the fact that the landmarks in the country are slowly disappearing, but he says,“For me, the shop house I stayed in as a young boy is a personal landmark. So is my high school,” says Chin. It is any place or building, he explains, that has a personal and sentimental value to a person or community.
Playing with perspectives, space and colour contrast, the artist gave prominence to this nondescript view of a village – with the black spaces giving the illusion as if one is peering through a telescope, focusing on the beauty of everyday scenes.
Chin Kon Yit is one the most established and internationally renowned watercolourists of South East Asia. His works are in the collections of the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, Central Bank of Malaysia, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Oriental Bank and Petronas Gallery. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions, locally and internationally, for over 40 years. The continuing inspiration for Chin Kon Yit’s art has been heritage architecture and artefacts as well as rural and urban scenes. His refined painting technique allows him to depict intricate detail with unfailing accurateness, in watercolour. These works manifest his extraordinary artistic talent and tenderness for his subjects, everyday life in contemporary Malaysia and the vanishing scenes.