040
b. Sarawak, 1896 - d. 1962
Yong Mun Sen
Singapore Waterfront
1953
signed ‘Mun Sen 1953’ lower left
watercolour on paper
49 x 64cm
Provenance
Private collector, Penang; acquired directly from artist’s family. One of the 148 works listed in the collection of Yao Chew Mooi (Yong Mun Sen’s widow) which were appraised by London firm Spink & Son.
Estimate
RM 18,000 – 30,000
Price Realised
RM 34,100
ILLUSTRATED
Page 63, Yong Mun Sen Retrospective 1999 (Dr Tan Chong Guan, Penang State Art Gallery)
This painting is both an interesting and important historical record, in so far that it showed the Singapore waterfront skyline when the only sky-scraper then was the Bank of China (BOC) Building. In 1953, BOC Singapore Branch moved into a new 17-storey building at Battery Road, which was clearly the most imposing structure on the waterfront back then, as it towered over all other buildings in the area. This is also one of 148 works listed in the collection of Yao Chew Mooi, Yong Mun Sen’s widow, which were appraised by London firm Spink & Son.
