003
b. Penang, 1942
Tan Peng Hooi
Happy Family
2010
signed and dated ‘Tan Peng Hooi 2010’ (bottom right)
oil on canvas
77.5 x 60.5cm
Provenance
Collection of The Art Gallery, Penang; acquired directly from artist.
Estimate
RM 8,000 – 10,000
Price Realised
RM 17,600
Tan Peng Hooi is perhaps one of Penang art’s best kept secrets, being versatile in painting almost any subjects – nudes, flowers (orchids and lotus), landscapes, fishing villages and harbours, animals, fowls and birds. His specialty is creating the atmospheric backdrop effect similar to that of Lee Man Fong. He is particularly noted for his paintings of feathered friends, evident in his solos in 1967, 1968 and 1970. The feathered brood is often shown as a family, with the cockerel preening himself and the little chicks sticking close to the mother hen.