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A bouquet of fragrant and crimson Cattleya, especially one with white ‘tongue’ tepals, is an orchid-gardener’s delight. Watercolour is a notoriously difficult medium to handle in the sense that once there is a mislaid stroke of the wrong shade, there can be no rectification. The adeptness in mastering this medium is evident in this piece where the artist strived to maintain a near perfect, photorealist impression of the subject. It depicts realistic dew drops, shaded petals, highlights and shadows of the stalks. Khaw Sia, a keen orchid-gardener himself had travelled all over the world in search for new blooms. He had even held three solo exhibitions exclusively on his orchid paintings in 1966, 1976 and 1977. The exotic species named after Sir William Cattleya is considered the ‘queen’ of orchids.

Born in Shanghai and studied at Sin Hwa Academy, Khaw Sia was trained privately under Sir Russell Flint of England in 1933. He held his first solo in Penang in 1955 and received numerous awards from Le Salon Paris (1956), Summer Salon 14th annual exhibition at the Royal Institute Galleries, London (1957) and National Society 25th Exhibition, England (1958). A member of the American Orchid Society, he is well known for his painting of orchids. His passion for orchids resulted in him travelling extensively to Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia, looking for new species for his garden and capturing their beauty on paper.