Lot 05
LIM KIM HAI
b. Selangor, 1950
TOGETHERNESS, 2003
Signed and dated ‘K.H.Lim 2003’ lower centre
Oil on canvas
30cm x 30cm
PROVENANCE
Collection of Raj Kumar RGP, Kuala Lumpur.
ESTIMATE RM 9,000 - 15,000
PRICE REALISED RM 19,800
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It may be a departure from his usual apple paintings, but Lim Kim Hai has ventured into painting other fruits such as pomegranates, cherries, pears and grapes for the same reasons and with the same symbolic narratives through witty arrangements. Known as the “Apple King” for his hard-crusted renditions of the biblical forbidden fruit, Kim Hai finds grapes fascinating too. Their invitingly dark purple skin makes them a visual delight. Here, the shape, colour and texture of the grapes is contrasted against the creased white tablecloth beneath, painted in painstaking details. Kim Hai sees the bunched nature of grapes as symbolic of togetherness and in Asian society, like the extended family.
Kim Hai had his early tutelage at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore from 1970 to 1972, before he decided to head for Paris to study at the Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Beaux Arts from 1975 to 1980. He gained recognition there with a slew of prestigious awards - Golden Award in the Salon des Artistes Francais (1982); Silver Award in the Salon Internationale Du Val D’Or (1984); Salon de Mantes La Jolie, Rotary Club Award (1986); Prix Henri Lehmann (Peinture) from the Institut de France, Academy des Beaux (1986); and the Golden and Public Awards from 52 Salon des Beaux Arts, Enghien-les-Bains (1987). His credentials enabled the launching of his art-career back home. His works have been showcased widely in France, Moscow, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
REFERENCE
Kim Hai Lim 林金海, Kosnet Press.
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