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拍品专文
Light is one of the central characteristics of Lee Man Fong’s paintings, bathing his figures in a warm glow of diffused sepia tones. Lee is considered one of the most outstanding artists associated with the Nanyang style, a synthesis of traditional Chinese techniques and subject matter with Western mediums and styles. Lee first had his first interaction with the medium of oil when he was sixteen years old, having trained in the Lingnan style of Chinese brush painting before that. Upon mastering both techniques, Lee began first, to directly translate Chinese paintings into the Western medium of oil on board, and later by illustrating his subject matter in a realistic manner, but against a background painted in the expressionistic Chinese xieyi method, developing the iconic style that he has become recognised for today. Lee painstakingly layers thin washes of oil paint to achieve his luminous backgrounds, while using delineated strokes to achieve a soft outline that closely resembles that of Chinese ink brush painting.
Temple Gathering (Lot 52) is one of Lee’s earlier works, done around the year that he left his career in advertising to pursue his life as an artist full time. During this time, he spent three months painting in Bali, capturing the life and culture of the local Balinese people. Temple Gathering is demonstrative of Lee’s ability to capture a moment in time and to immortalise a slice of the rich Balinese island life and culture that enthralled him. Lee clearly romanticises his subject matter, consciously constructing and posing the inhabitants of his exoticised world in beautiful arrangements that give his works an intimacy, which invokes in the viewer to feel almost as if they were present, quietly observing these people as they go about their daily lives. Temple Gathering is a celebration of tradition and cultural heritage, an exemplification of Lee’s own belief that 'art is an essence of culture without the form of written words but only strokes that tell directly to anyone regardless of time, race and language.'
Temple Gathering perfectly embodies Lee’s dominant style in the 1940s, which has a highly expressionistic quality comprised of visible loose brushstrokes, similar to the style of the French Impressionists such as Claude Monet, recalling Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son. However, it already displayed the hallmarks of Lee’s classic style: a relatively heightened realism of his subjects with heavily delineated silhouettes in the background, bathed in a diffused golden glow. The work depicts a throng of Balinese women passing through a Paduraksa – a roofed gateway to the inner sanctum of a religious compound, an architectural element integral to Hindu temples in Java and Bali. Dressed in the traditional attire of a gold sabuk and crowned with extravagant headdresses, these women were most likely dancers. They carry two iconic Balinese ceremonial objects: a traditional umbrella known as Tedung Agung, as well as offerings of fruits and flowers. The women appear undisturbed as they make their way through the gate, making us privy to what appears to be a private ceremonial moment.
From the upper left corner, a shaft of light is thrown upon the temple gates, setting it aglow to highlight its beauty and grandeur. The directionality of the light causes the women to appear to be lit from an angle, creating a difference in tonality and giving the work a cinematic effect – a stylistic device that would later become a visual signature in many of his paintings such as Weaver. Although Temple Gathering was painted before his time in Holland – where he had the opportunity to study the work of some of the works of the great masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh – Lee had already demonstrated his mastery at being able to manipulate light and shadow in the way of some of the Western masters such as Jan Vermeer and Caravaggio. Lee’s use of the angled light brings to mind the technique of chiaroscuro used in Italian Baroque painter, Caravaggio’s, works such as The Calling of Saint Matthew, which achieved a highly dramatic effect within his artistic compositions. This work is highly unique as well as it is one of his earliest on canvas, in his later years Lee used the oil on board medium more extensively and exclusively.
Temple Gathering is an expression of the Balinese mode of life that inspired him, capturing a sense of harmony, tranquility and simplicity in Lee’s typical manner that perfectly synthesises Western and Chinese painting styles. His modernity came from a desire to showcase the rich heritage of Asian artistic tradition in a way that was contemporary and relevant; his sensibilities were rooted in the Oriental, despite his use of Western painting materials. It is for this reason that both Indonesian artists, as well as mainland and immigrant Chinese cultural communities admired Lee’s artistry, and why he is highly respected and considered a master of Southeast Asian modern art today.
Temple Gathering (Lot 52) is one of Lee’s earlier works, done around the year that he left his career in advertising to pursue his life as an artist full time. During this time, he spent three months painting in Bali, capturing the life and culture of the local Balinese people. Temple Gathering is demonstrative of Lee’s ability to capture a moment in time and to immortalise a slice of the rich Balinese island life and culture that enthralled him. Lee clearly romanticises his subject matter, consciously constructing and posing the inhabitants of his exoticised world in beautiful arrangements that give his works an intimacy, which invokes in the viewer to feel almost as if they were present, quietly observing these people as they go about their daily lives. Temple Gathering is a celebration of tradition and cultural heritage, an exemplification of Lee’s own belief that 'art is an essence of culture without the form of written words but only strokes that tell directly to anyone regardless of time, race and language.'
Temple Gathering perfectly embodies Lee’s dominant style in the 1940s, which has a highly expressionistic quality comprised of visible loose brushstrokes, similar to the style of the French Impressionists such as Claude Monet, recalling Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son. However, it already displayed the hallmarks of Lee’s classic style: a relatively heightened realism of his subjects with heavily delineated silhouettes in the background, bathed in a diffused golden glow. The work depicts a throng of Balinese women passing through a Paduraksa – a roofed gateway to the inner sanctum of a religious compound, an architectural element integral to Hindu temples in Java and Bali. Dressed in the traditional attire of a gold sabuk and crowned with extravagant headdresses, these women were most likely dancers. They carry two iconic Balinese ceremonial objects: a traditional umbrella known as Tedung Agung, as well as offerings of fruits and flowers. The women appear undisturbed as they make their way through the gate, making us privy to what appears to be a private ceremonial moment.
From the upper left corner, a shaft of light is thrown upon the temple gates, setting it aglow to highlight its beauty and grandeur. The directionality of the light causes the women to appear to be lit from an angle, creating a difference in tonality and giving the work a cinematic effect – a stylistic device that would later become a visual signature in many of his paintings such as Weaver. Although Temple Gathering was painted before his time in Holland – where he had the opportunity to study the work of some of the works of the great masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh – Lee had already demonstrated his mastery at being able to manipulate light and shadow in the way of some of the Western masters such as Jan Vermeer and Caravaggio. Lee’s use of the angled light brings to mind the technique of chiaroscuro used in Italian Baroque painter, Caravaggio’s, works such as The Calling of Saint Matthew, which achieved a highly dramatic effect within his artistic compositions. This work is highly unique as well as it is one of his earliest on canvas, in his later years Lee used the oil on board medium more extensively and exclusively.
Temple Gathering is an expression of the Balinese mode of life that inspired him, capturing a sense of harmony, tranquility and simplicity in Lee’s typical manner that perfectly synthesises Western and Chinese painting styles. His modernity came from a desire to showcase the rich heritage of Asian artistic tradition in a way that was contemporary and relevant; his sensibilities were rooted in the Oriental, despite his use of Western painting materials. It is for this reason that both Indonesian artists, as well as mainland and immigrant Chinese cultural communities admired Lee’s artistry, and why he is highly respected and considered a master of Southeast Asian modern art today.