Lot 016
Mohd Hoessein Enas, Dato’
b. Indonesia, 1924 - d. Kuala Lumpur, 1995
Untitled, 1961
signed and dated (lower left)
pastel on paper laid on board
50 x 37cm
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Kuala Lumpur
ESTIMATE RM 16,000 – 32,000
PRICE REALISED RM 17,920.00
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Dato’ Hoessein Enas’ portfolio of portraits, his forte, had a female bias. In oil or pastels, the models are mostly nubile village girls from different backgrounds like from Kedah, Selangor, tribal Sarawak and the indigenous groups in peninsular Malaysia. Also in his repertoire were more sophisticated women as well as a bevy of natural beauties from Java, where he originated. Temperament-wise, there were the innocent and rustic to the sensuous and coquette, at times saucy. The portrait here is a kampung damsel, with a headcloth loosely wrapped over her head in side profile, with a coquettish almond eye cocked at something not in the picture, maybe a potential jodoh (suitor), as she looked of the ripe marriageable age. As always, the women are shown clad in a sarong, her shoulders bare.
Dato’ Hoessein Enas was schooled in the best portrait tradition in Indonesia with mentors like Basuki Abdullah. Founder of national associations in Indonesia and Malaysia specialising in figures, he was accorded ‘royal’ status by the Sultan of Selangor who also bestowed him the ‘Dato’ title. He was accorded a Retrospective by the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, in 1966. His laurels include fellowships from UNESCO (1960) and the United States (1968), an Asia Foundation grant (1960) and the Colombo Plan (1968). He had the distinction of his first solo in London, at the Charniel Gallery in 1960. In 1956, he painted the different ethnic portraits of Malaysia in a Shell-commissioned project called The Malaysians. His auction record was RM198,000 for Morning Mist IV (1991-1992) set in the Henry Butcher art auction in 2011. |