002
b. China, 1913 - d. 1974
Lee Cheng Yong
Seated Model
circa 1950
signed ‘CY’ (bottom right)
watercolour on paper
55 x 36.5cm
Provenance
Private collection, Penang; acquired directly from artist’s family
Estimate
RM 7,000 – 10,000
Price Realised
RM 9,350
LITERATURE
Lee Cheng Yong Retrospective (Curator: Dr Tan Chee Khuan), Penang State Art Gallery, January 20-February 17, 1996
Academician-artist Lee Cheng Yong is arguably the most versatile of the pioneer artists, being adept in a variety of techniques and media including sculpture, his most notable being a bust of the Malaysian First Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rah-man. He was an art teacher and it’s unsurprising that his works tend to be couched in the academic tradition.
In Seated Model, he evokes the statuesque quality of a Venus de Milo, painted in full-bodied completeness, with the plinth-like stand. The pale, pearly hues with subtle modulation of form give off a marbling effect.
