Known for his depiction of the peoples, landscapes, flora and fauna in his Balinese-themed works, Lee Man Fong was enraptured by the vibrancy of life he found in Bali. He has been recognised as one of the most accomplished Indonesian painters of his generation, and his style of detailed brushwork and solid outlines have produced some of the most important artworks from the Indonesian region. His work has been categorised into a number of different subjects due to his continual reworking of certain key characters, animals, places, or scenes that for him, encapsulated the essence of Balinese culture. Of these, Lee's renditions of the Balinese rojak seller have become one of his most celebrated images of Bali, and he set about portraying her in different angles, settings, and variety of dress. The Balinese rojak seller is often also the central focus of his large-scale panoramic Bali Life paintings, and is undoubtedly an iconic figure from Lee's vast oeuvre.
Balinese Rojak Seller (Lot 111) is rare for its medium of oil and canvas, as opposed to Lee's more common working in oil on masonite board. The brushwork is also more dense and impressionistic when compared to Lee's later work. Approximating the European style of painting that he was exposed to during his time spent in Europe in the mid-1940s, Lee perfectly melds the results of his perfection of Western painting techniques with his continued fascination and sensitivity towards the Balinese subject. As seen in the array of fruits laid out on the rojak seller's table, none of the detail of the scene is lost amidst Lee's thick brushstrokes. In fact, this style of painting allowed Lee to fully experiment with various textures and tones of colours. An intimate scene featuring elements of family and community, this is a rare and exceptional expression of one of Lee's favourite subjects.