LOT 85
TEW NAI TONG
B. Selangor, 1936-2013
Living You, 2011
Signed “NAI TONG” on upper left
Artist, title, date and dimensions inscribed on the reverse
Oil on canvas
31 x 41 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Selangor
AVAILABLE
RM 5,000 – RM 7,000
Using oil on canvas, Tew Nai Tong captures the exquisiteness of the female body as his subject rests in a relaxed manner. The face is completely omitted from view, as the artist wishes to focus only on the exceptionality of the female body – its shapes, contours, flesh and skin, highlighting the differences of the female species compared to that of the male.
All in all, this piece is a quiet, serene admiration of the female body, as well as an insight into the artist’s skills and knowledge of the human body and the expression of emotions and of the body.
Tew Nai Tong, most renowned for being a distinctive figurative artist, was born in his hometown in Klang in 1936. He attended the Peng Hwa Chinese School when he was seven years old. He was 18 when he chose to pursue the path of his dream of becoming an artist. He went to Singapore and attended the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) for two years and graduated in 1958 at the age of 22. During his early stage at NAFA while focusing on sketching ,watercolour and landscape painting, Nai Tong with the rest of his contemporaries, became part of the watercolour movement of Malaysia.