Roosters

Lee Man Fong is also highly acclaimed for his animal works, which again utilise a Western technique within an often Chinese format, painted on masonite board. During his later years, he kept pet birds and a goldfish pond in the backyard of his Greenwood Avenue home in Singapore, often painting them from life. Many of his works incorporate Chinese auspicious symbolism, such as the pairs of goldfish or doves, or larger groupings in flocks of eight, nine or more. His oil works of goldfish are unparalleled, as the brevity of his precise brushstrokes create full, round bodies and wispy fins which glide through the water effortlessly or hide behind soft seaweed and blur into the distance, creating a sense of fluid depth.
Rooster (Lot 2249) is a powerfully rendered composition in Lee Man Fong's characteristic style, depicting a rooster and hen in the foreground perched on a sturdy branch and ornamental rock gazing directly at the viewer, while a bamboo grove, reminiscent of Chinese landscape painting, recedes into the distance. The vigorous subjects, composed with thick, textured brushwork, contrast with the wispy, nearly empty spatial background to impressive effect.
Lee Man Fong's diverse range of subjects attest to his versatility and achievement in his field, having succeeded in developing a style utilising oil painting for the expression of subject matter typical to the region, accomplishing far beyond his peers of this period.