LEE MAN FONG, (Indonesian, 1913-1988), oil on masonite board, study of two horses, signed...

LEE MAN FONG, (Indonesian, 1913-1988), oil on masonite board, study of two horses, signed and dated 1949, 40cm x 90.5cm

Provenance: Justus Blank, Dutch East India Company, and thence by descent

Cf. A similar painting, perhaps a companion to the present example, was sold by Christie's Hong Kong, 30th May 2010, Lot 1223

Classically trained in Chinese ink painting whilst embracing the style of the Dutch Impressionists, Lee Man Fong is renowned for moving fluidly between Eastern and Western aesthetics. Born in the Chinese province of Guangzhou in 1913, Lee migrated to Singapore and eventually settled in Jakarta in 1930, where he secured a job at the Dutch printing company Kolff.

In 1942 Lee was arrested by the Japanese military government for his participation in the revolutionary group Fu Xing She, who opposed Japanese colonialism in Indonesia. His jailer, Takahashi Masao, was an admirer of his work and, interested in his artistic potential, secured his early release within months.

As his artistic profile continued to rise, he was awarded a Malino scholarship to study in the Netherlands. He lived there for six years (1946-1952), during which he held four solo exhibitions in Amsterdam and The Hague, and participated in an international salon in Paris. It was here that Lee began to interweave the dark and fluid palette of the Dutch Impressionists with the classical sensibilities of the Chinese ink tradition. Combining fluid and airy brushstrokes with a keen sense of light and shade, Lee Man Fongs depiction of two horses sits proudly amongst his own developed vernacular. His exhibitions in Europe were critically acclaimed, with many buyers purchasing his works.

The choice of two horses aligns with the favourite subject of Chinese artist Xu Bei Hong (1895-1953), an artist greatly admired by Lee Man Fong. Another artist renowned for his skilful interweaving of Western and Eastern aesthetics in his oil works, and whose primary subject was the horse, there is no doubt Lee took inspiration from this celebrated painter. Xus poetic depictions of horses, with vivid contrast between airy and dark, heavy brushstrokes, provided Lee Man Fong an expansive resource from which to draw inspiration, instilling a sense of subdued theatricality in his work.

李曼峰 （1913-1988）雙馬圖