Born in Guangdong Province, China in 1913, Lee Man Fong moved to Singapore at the age of three. At 20, he left for Indonesia to further his career as an artist. He is well-regarded for his "Eastern" style of painting, dominant in his expansive body of works. He was able to combine both Eastern and Western elements of art together harmoniously by using oil paints, a medium viewed as being "Westernized" at the time, to depict distinctly Southeast Asian themes.

Most of Lee's paintings are colourfully alive, vividly realistic and capable of evoking intense emotions despite their simple narratives. Suasana di Kampung (Life in a Village) (Lot 2116) is one such painting which succeeds in revealing Lee's sophisticated handling of the everyday subject and exemplifies his mastery of the Western materials and pigments to reflect his Eastern ideals by painting with earthy Oriental colours. Combining the fixed perspective of Western painting with the varying levels of Chinese painting in which viewers' gaze may roam the surface of the work, the composition of the work gives an impression of space as one's eyes travel across the painting with ease. Nothing stands out jarringly; all subjects appear to exist in quiet tandem. The lightness of his brushstrokes gives the oil painting an appearance similar to that of a traditional ink painting at first glance.