It’s the largest work by Ismail Mat Hussin, ever appearing in Henry Butcher Art Auction. This precious rare work has bluish-purplish hues instead of the artist-musician Ismail Mat Hussin’s more common palette of orange and brown. Like Khalil Ibrahim, he picked up the rudiments at the Padang Garong School in 1954-1955, but unlike Khalil, he was not college-trained and counted Khalil as one of his mentors. Like Khalil too, he painted the East Coast fishermen but with his tjanting (a batik tool), the great camaraderie of the kampong people, men and women, when coming ashore. Here, the canvas is peopled by more than a dozen helpers. Although self-taught, Ismail Mat Hussin worked as a graphic designer cum illustrator at Syarikat Percetakan Dian in Kota Baru from 1979-1991, but had been painting virtually fulltime since 1968. He was a member of Peseni (Persatuan Senilukis Kelantan) and the Angkatan Pelukis SeMalaysia. He also painted in watercolours, but his batiks fetch higher prices. He was qualified in music with a Grade V certificate in violin from the Royal School of Music in London, and worked part-time at Radio-Televisyen Malaysia Kota Baru.