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Chuah Siew Teng, also known as ‘Small Teng’ to differentiate from his more illustrious batik art founder father Dato’ Chuah Thean Teng, is the most versatile of his children. His depiction of the bull with frontal legs upraised, and a ferocious “red” one at that, plays on the unbridled strength and the mythic lore of the animal that has become a central force in the works of artists such as Pablo Picasso and John Lee Joo For. The backdrop’s thick-et-like patterns are for ornamentation as well as to show the wild nature but the frame put around it is a restrictive and taming leash on it. The bull is also a personification of man’s dual nature and beastly bent.

In response to enquiries from Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers, the artist said that inspiration for this work came at a time when the economic situation for the country seemed bleak and he felt moved to create a work about releasing the “bull”.