043
b. Selangor, 1960
Zheng Yuande
Three Chinese Actors
1986
signed bottom right
oil on board
79 x 44cm
Provenance
Private collection, Kuala Lumpur.
Estimate
RM 15,000 –20,000
Zheng Yuande alias Tay Guan Teik is a master of the chiaroscuro drawings depicting the ill-lit back scenes of the disappearing Chinese Opera. He used to follow these troupes on their itinerary early on, as a social record of their drab stage lives as well as a waning cultural tradition fighting a losing battle against television and other modern entertainment devices. Three Chinese Actors shows the actors resting behind the illuminated stage, effete, bored and forlorn amidst the sparse props. The original Chinese title called Endless Waiting tells the story even more vividly.
Zheng makes his solo debut in the exhibition, Other World: Glimpses of Chinese Opera, at the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur in 1988.