Lot 026
MAZLI MAT SOM
b. Kuala Lumpur, 1938 - d. 1990
GADIS MELAYU, 1964
Signed and dated ‘Mazli Som ‘64’ (lower right)
Pastel on paper
55cm x 43cm
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur.
ESTIMATE RM 8,000 - 12,000
PRICE REALISED RM 21,280 |
Mazli Mat Som makes his auction debut with this alluring 1964 pastel work representing the history of portraiture in Malaysia that celebrates the art of figurative drawing. A realist portrait painter, Mazli Mat Som is masterful in capturing the essence of his live models. Illustrated here is a pastel portrait of a young lady whose gaze is fixed into space as though her thoughts are with someone absent. Her glassy eyes suggest recollection of a melancholic memory. Dressed in baju kebaya, the common daily attire worn by Malay women in that era, her hands are resting on a couple of books which may suggest her profession of either a teacher or a student.
Mazli Mat Som was a member turned leader of the art group Angkatan Pelukis Semenanjung (or APS, later known as Angkatan Pelukis SeMalaysia) founded and led by Hoessein Enas in Kuala Lumpur in 1957. APS was formed as an initiative to promote works of art by local artists while focusing mainly on figurative paintings. The group’s founding figure had been a great influence to its members. Mazli Mat Som had also illustrated the cover of a provocative novel titled Tembelang by author Yahya Samah.
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