085
b. China, 1912 - d. 2008
Chuah Thean Teng, Dato’
Feeding Durian
1988
signed ‘Teng’ (bottom right)
batik
90 x 87cm
Provenance
Private collection, Penang; acquired directly from aritst.
Estimate
RM 80,000 – 120,000
Price Realised
RM 170,500
LITERATURE
Chuah Thean Teng Retrospective, Penang State Museum and Art Gallery, Penang, 1994, illustrated p. 51.
Affectionately called Feeding Durian (which more aptly describes the painting) by its current owner, the work is originally entitled Sharing Time in a book produced by the artist in Chinese.
It is part of Teng’s famed mother-and-child genre that focuses on love and family intimacy. Here, the mother nonchalantly offers her son a piece of the durian pulp, which reputedly has a foul odour, probably in playful jest. It seems like the child is not taking the bait as can be seen by his stiffened body. Typical of the wry humour on family life and culture in his works, this is one of Teng’s classic takes on Malaysian kampung life.
