33 free≤an’s asian art
09/09/12
115 121647/1 LEE MAN FONG chinese/indonesia COMPOON Framed, signed, stamped with artist’s seal. H: 39 in. x L: 78 in. provenance: Property of a Pennsylvania Lady note: ‘As a young woman living in Indonesia in the early 1950’s, I had a great interest in art. In turn, I became close friends with an art dealer and gallery owner in Bandung named Art Land Lee. Mr. Lee introduced me to some of the leading artists of Indonesia, my favorite of which was the ChineseIndonesian artist, Lee Man Fung. His home and studio were in a “compoon” or village, on the outskirts of Djakarta. His residence very much resembled the bamboo houses depicted in his paintings. His studio consisted of four rooms in the back of his house, behind the compound’s main road. The walls were lined with stacked paintings, one leaning against the other. Lee Man Fung was a gracious and personable man and on many occasion, we would spend a lovely afternoon together drinking tea and engaging in delightful conversation. During one of my visits though, I found Lee Man Fung disturbed and frustrated. As President Sukarno’s palace artist, he had been commissioned
to paint an underwater mural for the new Hotel Indonesia, the country’s first tourist hotel. I found Lee Man Fung’s painting of the mural to be a wonderfully executed, underwater scene which covered the entire end wall. President Sukarno however thought it too dark and even though the mural was finished, the president had demanded Lee Man Fung to “lighten it up.” Unfortunately, this request required Lee Man Fung to repaint the mural. On that day, I bought the painting which lifted his spirits immensely. When I was ready to leave, he told me he would frame the painting himself with a wonderful solid teak frame of his design. The painting, in his own Chinese style, is that of an Indonesian “compoon.” The painting depicts the area’s serenity as well as the artist’s longing for his Chinese homeland.’ Note from the Consigner $60,000-100,000