Khalil is renowned for his East Coast series, of his life-long interest in the spectacle of the ordinary and in particular the coastal villages of Malaysia's East Coast which simply describe the route of his own local heritage. His instinctive understanding of figures, both male and female, and sound anatomy were honed from a rigorous training in his six-year study at the St Martin's School of Art and Design in London, including post-studies. In the present lot, the exquisite arrangement of figures, together with a palette of green, orange, blues and crimson are testament to his devotion of classical principles of harmony, order, and beauty. Khalil Ibrahim was a versatile southpaw in art. His winning 2nd Prize in the Malayan Life competition sponsored by Lever Brothers in 1959 helped clinch a Pahang State scholarship to study Art in Britain. On his return, he was somehow released from his teaching bond and he became a fulltime artist and had never looked back ever since. He had a double first solo at the Samat Gallery in Kuala Lumpur followed by another solo the same year in Indonesia, but his two major exhibitions came late in his career, in 2004 with A Continued Dialogue at Galeri Petronas, and 2015 The Art Journey. After suffering a stroke in 2012, Khalil had lost his ability to paint with his left hand. Khalil was also a co-founder of the Malaysian Watercolour Society (MWS). He was in both MWS painting expeditions in Sweden and India.