Lee Man Fong

Art Retreat, Lee Man Fong: Oil Paintings, Art Retreat Ltd, Singapore, 2005, Volume I, p. 210, colorplate

This work is in good overall condition as viewed. Under extremely close inspection, there is craquelure visible under bright light throughout the surface of the work, but this is very stable and consistent with age. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals some restoration across the surface of the painting, most notably in the background of the figure's proper left arm. Any other inconsistencies are consistent with the artist's working methods. Framed.
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Throughout Lee Man Fong’s Indonesia-inspired body of works, the artist was very much interested in capturing the likeness of the archipelago’s flora and fauna, as well as village interactions of the locals. While he was in Indonesia the artist discovered Bali to be a sanctuary for his creative maturation, with many of his paintings simultaneously inspired by and painted on the island. Much of the artist’s oeuvre dedicated to Bali provided a window into the rural existence of that era. Partly a visual history of the island’s transition from European rule, the works were also an outsider look into a foreign culture. This cross-cultural rapport between the artist and the island was able to establish a bridge between the audience and the paintings, subsequently connecting many differing perspectives and ideologies together.

Lee Man Fong explored many different subject matters in his career. Women and wildlife were especially favoured motifs, and featured prominently in the paintings. A Chinese national who resided in Southeast Asia starting from the early forties, a period when Indonesia was slowly distancing itself from the Dutch colonialists, the artist’s experiences as an Asian painter gifted him with a certain separation from existing Mooi Indies (Beautiful Indies) aesthetics from that period. Lee Man Fong’s Asian ancestry had a distinct influence upon his interaction with the country, and he is highly regarded for imbuing an Eastern sensibility into the country’s burgeoning modernist art movement. He had a keen understanding for his external environment and relationships, and this instilled in his paintings a unique rhythm that emphasized the life force of the subjects.

The present painting Telanjang (Nude) was created a few years after he first arrived to Bali, and may be regarded as a portrait of the artist’s wife. Early works from Lee Man Fong’s oeuvre show him experimenting with painting onto canvases, rather than painting onto Masonite board as seen in future works. The artist’s brushstrokes on the canvases, paired together with the thick impastos of the paint and select colour palette, all established a special ambience in these narratives. A similar mood is evident in the current work with the woman who occupies what can be perceived as the interior of a bedroom. Her reclining form is further accentuated by the rustic hues and dimly lit lights that build up the artwork’s drama.

Lee Man Fong can be viewed as a realist painter, for his compositions were largely influenced by animals and the daily routines of tropical life. These were paintings that celebrated movement and energy. As seen with the Balinese weavers and dancers immersed in their crafts, or by the wildlife portraits that carried a sense of restlessness amongst the island creatures. Telanjang (Nude) is a slight deviation from such motifs and concepts, for the painting finds its voice in the classical nude art genre, a subject matter that Lee Man Fong rarely touched upon during his career. The work is an exceptionally special work from his oeuvre, for it is a nude painting inspired by Western aesthetics, and therefore one of the very few such works from his career. The reclining woman is reminiscent of European artists’ depiction of the classical female nude, such as how the woman interacts with the interior of the room, and her seeming obliviousness of the external gaze from the audience. . The artist deliberately chose a dark colour palette to enhance the nocturnal mood of the scene, as well as to subtly veil the woman in shadows to cover her modesty. Her presence fuels the narrative of the painting, and like the Mona Lisa whose smile enthrals and captivates, the woman in the present work shares similar alluring and enigmatic qualities that are attractive to the audience

It is interesting to note that Telanjang (Nude) was painted one year before Lee Man Fong travelled to the Netherlands in 1946 for a six year residency to study European art history, and become familiar with Western masters and their artworks. The painting foreshadows the important influence that the Dutch school of painting would have upon his oeuvre. Notably the generous use of thick brushstrokes and earthy colours to inspire a certain mood in the compositions, as well as the artist’s skilful application of light and shadows in the canvas works. Telanjang (Nude) references the academics of the nude art genre. The woman in the current piece lies down unabashedly in the bedroom. Her head is flung back in sheer abandonment as she rests on the floor with her eyes closed. It is an intimate scene where the artist has invited the audience to observe and appreciate in the quietude of the moment.

Considering the locale of the painting and that the female model may be the artist’s wife, it can be implied that the current piece is his own Eastern interpretation of the given art genre. Therefore Telanjang (Nude) may be seen as the artist’s study of the female form, rather than a subjective analysis of womanhood. Part of the artist’s oeuvre and subsequently his memory, it is from an intimate time in his life when he newly arrived to Bali and was assimilating into the island culture and routines. The painting is essentially Lee Man Fong’s homage to his lush island paradise untouched by noise and other worldly distractions.