Lot 034
PETER LIEW
b. Perak, 1955
MALACCA, 1998
Signed and dated ‘Peter Liew 98’ lower left
Oil on canvas
80cm x 65cm
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Kuala Lumpur; acquired directly from the
artist.
ESTIMATE RM 10,000 - 15,000
PRICE REALISED RM 14,300
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Peter Liew is known for painting plein air and often outdoors where he is exposed to all the elements – the details of colours and forms of the scene before him, the atmosphere, the weather, the changing light, the smells. This work was done either in the late afternoon with signs of fading light or on a gloomy morning where he had taken up a strategic spot in one of the narrow back lanes of Malacca’s typical Chinese long houses. Boughs of flowers, probably bougainvillea, add a sprig of life on the back balcony in what would otherwise be a dull picture of slapdash masonry. The historical precincts of Malacca and Penang were chosen as a twin UNESCO Heritage Site in 2008. This work is from Peter Liew’s vintage 1997 to 1998 period, which propelled him into the Malaysian art landscape theatrically, where thick impastos scooped up and spread over with a palette knife have become his hallmark.
Peter Liew graduated with a Diploma from the Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA) in 1979. He lectured there from 1981 to 1993 before deciding to go full-time into art. His highly tactile technique of thick impastos has seen him travelling all over the world to paint mainly the natural landscapes, often in panorama. He set up his own art ateliers in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Having been to the Art Colony in Debrca, Belchrista, Macedonia in 2000 and 2002, he plans to set up an artist’s camp in Balik Pulau in Penang.
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