Yong Mun Sen

070

b. Sarawak, 1896 - d. 1962
Yong Mun Sen
Batu Ferringhi Beach
1948
signed and dated ‘Mun Sen 48’ (lower left)
watercolour on paper
53.5 x 74cm
Provenance
Private collection, Penang; acquired from the artist’s family.
Estimate
RM 18,000 – 30,000
Price Realised
RM 18,700

Known by many as the Father of Malaysian Modern Art, Batu Feringghi Beach represents Mun Sen’s famed coconut trees by the beach in well rendered compositions. A symphony of nine coconut tree trunks line the scenic beach landscape in Penang arranged in a format of criss-crossing pairs with clumps of drooping leaves above. Blissful tonal contrasts of white, cerulean blue and faded sepia cover the sky and the sea. This painting of a lazy, unspoiled beach in Batu Ferringhi in the 1940s makes one yearns for an escape from the daily grind of life.

Yong Mun Sen was born in 1896 in Sarawak. He was the Co-founder and President of Penang Chinese Art Club in 1936. He was best known for his fluid execution of landscapes in watercolour. He was honoured with a memorial exhibition at National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur in 1972.