Pura Bali (A Balinese Temple Gate)

A synthesis of the attitudes of European art, with the style and composition of traditional Chinese ink paintings, Lee Man Fong manages to capture his tropical environment in a manner that is harmonious and halcyon, but simultaneously dynamic and full of depth. Being an ethnic-Chinese artist who received Western training in painting, Lee's technique is always Western in the understanding of light and shadow, the maneuvering of his brush and oil and the application of perspective, but his sensibilities remain distinctly rooted in the Oriental.
In Pura Bali (A Balinese Temple Gate) (Lot 3357) Lee celebrates and recognizes the importance of cultural heritage. To him, 'art is an essence of culture without the form of written words but only strokes that tell directly to anyone regardless of time, race and language.' In the best traditions of Dutch and Italian old masters, Lee Man Fong pays attention to the depiction of light. The evocation of light and shadow in the present lot is masterfully handled, with a shaft of light flowing from the distant upper left in the composition that beautifully illuminate the temple gates. But in the painting techniques, representative of his prevalent style in the 1940s, shows us the creation of a pictorial space through ink-like strokes but executed instead by an oil brush.