053
LITERATURE
Ibrahim Hussein Retrospective, National Art Gallery, 1986
Ibrahim Hussein, Exhibition pamphlet, Universiti Malaya, 1971
It is rare indeed to find a painting by Datuk Ibrahim Hussein, popularly known as Ib, especially one from his early 1969-70 vintage period that somehow eluded documentation.
The Dream sits with a great creative splurge that saw breathtaking masterpieces such as Pak Utih, Chairil Anwar, My Father And The Astronaut, May 13 1969, Are You Alone Out There?, Senyum Seorang Monyet, Aku Dan Aku, and the missing Lebai Malang.
The smooth luminous strokes and colour palette are consistent with Ib’s métier then, but the comparative detail to what is ostensibly a feminine head is unusual.
The work also incorporates collage strips in the central area.
A probable companion piece to this composition of arched figures clasped in an intimate position is the work, Nude (renamed The Kiss) of the same year. The Dream was acquired by Dutchman Casper Kamp and his late wife, Ann, from the artist around the early 1970s when he was an artist-in-residence at Universiti Malaya (UM). Ib’s tenure was from 1970 to 1977. The Kamps had taken the work wherever Casper was posted to – Pakistan (1972), New York (1976), Vietnam (1978), Laos (1981), Sri Lanka (1984), Thailand (1986), Indonesia (1990), and finally Britain (1996).
“In 1969, just before May 13, my wife and I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, where I was going to work for the United Nations, in Jalan Freeman (subsequently, I believe, named Jalan U Thant). Since we were interested in art, we visited exhibitions and soon got to know the work of Ibrahim Hussein which we particularly liked. We went to several of his exhibitions and also got to know (him) personally. I also remember watching a long film he made about his visit to the USA. On one of these occasions - in 1970 or 1971 - we bought The Dream.”
Mr. Kamp said he could not recall for sure but vaguely remembers that they bought the painting at an exhibition at Universiti Malaya. The Kamps left Malaysia in 1972.
Following the death of his wife, Mr Kamp sold the painting through Cambridge-based Cheffins UK to a private collector, who has brought the painting back to its home shores, after nearly 40 years.
Mr. Kamp, in an e-mail response to enquiries from the Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers, said that he personally knew Ib and was even treated to a special viewing of the artist’s avant garde film, believed to be Rolling Moments, USA, shot with a 16mm cine camera during his 1968-69 stint in New York. There, Ib held two solo exhibitions at Newsweek Gallery 10 and Galerie Internationale.
