Lee Man Fong

This work is in good overall condition as viewed. There are some accretions on the background areas, most notably at the bottom of the work (visible in the catalog illustration), but this is easily removable through a light professional cleaning. There are a few areas of minor paint shrinkage, but this is stable and consistent with the medium and age of the work. There is a scratch on the bottom of the work, with a small spot of paint loss. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals no sign of restoration as viewed. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

“The art world is like a garden of blooms. I have never proposed that we opt for just one style and go against other methods. I believe that every school of art has the right to present its own unique style… Illustrating part of life should be done seriously and meticulously sensitive to Nature. We should seek our own strengths and slowly but surely we can develop our very own style.”¹

- Lee Man Fong on art, painting and painters

Born in China but choosing to live in Southeast Asia for the remainder of his life, Lee Man Fong was an artist who sought to integrate the stylistic and perspectival nuances of Chinese art with the shading and anatomical depictions of Western art.

This present lot is traced to his time in Bali, where he painted both portraits and scenes. Like other contemporary artists such as Cheong Soo Pieng, Lee Man Fong was enchanted with life in Bali, with its buoyant religious festivals, magnificent architecture and deeply rooted community.

Lee Man Fong had a penchant for painting Western-styled figures with Chinese ink art inspired backgrounds. He was known for choosing only the best models for his work, finding the most beautiful women in Bali to sit for him. The woman depicted here is no exception to his exacting standards, seen seated with her legs to one side, one hand supporting her weight and another resting gracefully on her lap while she looks on into the distance, her expression holding within it stillness and mystery. She is outlined in a soft black, with great care applied to each brushstroke to create a calligraphic, three-dimensional quality to each line. The same use of strokes is also used to draw her thick hair, eyebrows and eyelashes in painstaking detail, an allusion to the vigor of her youth. Furthermore, Lee Man Fong uses careful shading to bring her form to life in the line of Western anatomical depictions, with periodic hints of brown used to contour the shapes of her body, while her batik skirt lightens in shade as it extends forward in the picture plane.

The background is painted in the vein of traditional Chinese ink paintings, but it is punctuated with flecks of the same yellow present on the woman’s earrings and a similar floral pattern to what is found on the woman’s skirt. Furthermore, the branch in the background takes on an undulating quality, almost an exaggeration of the woman’s posture, suggesting a natural harmony between nature and the Balinese people. Bali played a key role in Lee Man Fong’s imagination of beauty. There, he saw a people who lived his philosophical treatise about art, in kinship with each other and with the world around them.

¹ Quoted in Lee Man Fong: Oil Painting Volume II, Art Retreat, Singapore, p. 33.