Lot 82 | Auction XXI

LOT 82

Ismail Latiff
B. Melaka, 1955

Riang Riang Rimba..Berembang Pagi, 1995

Signed “Ismail Latiff” on lower middle

Acrylic on paper

102 x 70.5 cm

Provenance Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur

RM 14,000 – RM 18,000

Simply sketched and illustrated, this piece is Abdullah Ariff’s narration of a common, everyday life. A man, bedecked in a songkok and checkered sarong, gazes far away into the landscape. Although the setting and subject are simple, it is effective in its storytelling, as it manages to capture a mood, theme and focus at the same time.

Ismail Latiff’s spatter of colours dance around the canvas and their smooth, flowy movement is clearly something to behold. Ismail Latiff, creator of magical canvases, interprets the formation of what a gate and window to the world would be like in true artistic form, onto canvas.

His works are based on nature and solitude, some sort of paradise, as seen in this painting. He once mentioned, “I embarked on a conquest of inner space, texture and colour, bringing the beauty of the natural world indoor, which is transformed onto paper and canvas.”

He captures the depth, the clarity very beautifully. Amidst all the visual treats and wonder that is this painting, his ubiquitous circle of balance made its mark at the top middle. This circle never fails to be part of his paintings, no matter what the concept is, as according to the artist, “It is a symbol of perfection and balance”. Ismail Latiff is ongoing in his search to be one and whole with the universe, as seen through his paintings of water, sceneries and all the elements of life and nature.

Ismail Latiff is a Melaka-born artist who trained formally in arts at MARA Institute of Technology. His artworks of both the mystical and abstract kind are known locally and internationally. Having started off his career in advertising before switching to fine arts, his philosophy of life and work is “Art is Life and one of the best introduction to art is Nature.”