Lot Essay
Born in 1913 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in China, Man Fong was brought to Singapore by his father, a trader, at the age of three. He received his education at St. Andrew's School and Yangzheng School where he was taught art by the Lingnan master, Mei Yutian, from whom he learned to sketch directly from life. He began to paint in oil from the age of sixteen under the tutelage of Huang Qingquan.
The artist first oil painting, The Shuanglin Temple (K.C. Low and Ho Kung-Shang, The Oil Painting of Lee Man Fong Taiwan, Art book Co. Ptd, 1984, p.17) was executed in 1929 when Man Fong was only sixteeen. The painting allowed the artist to demonstrate his matured handling of the composition and perspective. More importantly, the artist was revealing an artistic tendency which would last a lifetime: an assimilation of the East and West techniques.
In 1932 Man Fong left for Jakarta to take up the position of art editor of a Chinese paper, Shibao, which he left the following year to work as designer in the publishing firm, Kolff and Co. . In 1936 he established his own advertising agency, Linto Reclame Bureau, where he worked as a commercial artist. In short, the artist has always kept a close contact with drawing be it as an artistic passion or as a living tool.
In his early years in Indonesian which was basically the period between 1932-46, he painted mainly landscapes and still lifes. His composition, particularly for his landscapes, never failed to present a profound Western perspective while at the same time manifest a poetical lyricism close to his Chinese training. Another source of influence came as a result of his easy contact with Dutch paintings of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly those by Israels, Mauve, Maris and other painters from the The Hague school; these painters were frequently exhibited in Jakarta at that time. This influence was evident in the artist's handling of a bold, heavily paint-laden brush as well as the dark earth tones.
The present lot is a good represantational work from this period. The vigorous brush strokes and the general dark colour scheme of the painting were influnces from the Dutch artists. As the procession advances with the man in lead and the parosals which divide the painting from the crowd on the left and the pagoda in the distance; this composition gives the onlooker a sense of movement and rhythm and more importantly a real sense of involvement as the size of the painting would present an imposing presence and the viewer would have the feeling of being a spectator of a real scene in life.
The artist first oil painting, The Shuanglin Temple (K.C. Low and Ho Kung-Shang, The Oil Painting of Lee Man Fong Taiwan, Art book Co. Ptd, 1984, p.17) was executed in 1929 when Man Fong was only sixteeen. The painting allowed the artist to demonstrate his matured handling of the composition and perspective. More importantly, the artist was revealing an artistic tendency which would last a lifetime: an assimilation of the East and West techniques.
In 1932 Man Fong left for Jakarta to take up the position of art editor of a Chinese paper, Shibao, which he left the following year to work as designer in the publishing firm, Kolff and Co. . In 1936 he established his own advertising agency, Linto Reclame Bureau, where he worked as a commercial artist. In short, the artist has always kept a close contact with drawing be it as an artistic passion or as a living tool.
In his early years in Indonesian which was basically the period between 1932-46, he painted mainly landscapes and still lifes. His composition, particularly for his landscapes, never failed to present a profound Western perspective while at the same time manifest a poetical lyricism close to his Chinese training. Another source of influence came as a result of his easy contact with Dutch paintings of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly those by Israels, Mauve, Maris and other painters from the The Hague school; these painters were frequently exhibited in Jakarta at that time. This influence was evident in the artist's handling of a bold, heavily paint-laden brush as well as the dark earth tones.
The present lot is a good represantational work from this period. The vigorous brush strokes and the general dark colour scheme of the painting were influnces from the Dutch artists. As the procession advances with the man in lead and the parosals which divide the painting from the crowd on the left and the pagoda in the distance; this composition gives the onlooker a sense of movement and rhythm and more importantly a real sense of involvement as the size of the painting would present an imposing presence and the viewer would have the feeling of being a spectator of a real scene in life.