S Mahdar – Perjuangan di Malaya (Battle in Malaya)

• 1951, Pencil on Paper

Initial Response

There are many people queuing up and marching towards the crowd at the center of the drawing. The bones and skulls at the side also caught my attention.

Analysis

Lines are used to outline moving objects, show their movements (e.g. flowing flags) and draw their details (e.g. expressions of the people). Implied lines are also formed by the the queues of the marching soldiers.

Various shading techniques help to add texture and emotions to the drawing. For instance, hatching (thin parallel lines) is applied to the people’s faces, giving a smooth skin texture and at the same time expressing their fear, sadness and anger through a darker tone.

Atmospheric perspective is applied here where a lighter shade of black is used to show distance and atmospheric haze (slight blurry effect) for further objects. Composition in this drawing involves overlapping the elements and varying them in size. For instance, the people who are nearer are drawn bigger. There is a light source at the top of the drawing, where the area appears to be a little blurry and hazy. It is due to the exposure to light and atmospheric haze. The sketch is achromatic as only black and white is used.

The painting has a realistic scale and uses simple shapes such as small circles to represent the heads of the people in the crowd. However, certain elements are drawn in a rather abstract manner. For instance, lines of the people walking down to the crowd are drawn like chains.

In an overview, the techniques used are sketching and shading. These help to achieve the above-mentioned effects and results, adding value and texture and depth to the overall drawing.

About the Art Piece

Little information could be found about the artist and art piece. As the sketch is drawn in 1951, in my opinion, this piece is created to record the “Malayan Emergency” war which occurred in 1948 to 1960 since the timeline matches. It shows the sorrow and pain the Malayans had went through.

Lim Yew Kuan – Searching

• 1951, Oil on Canvas

Initial Response

The first thing noticed in this painting is the barefooted man who wears a torn singlet. The way he dresses made him stand out in the crowd as the rest are well dressed and appear to be very wealthy. He looks lost and helpless, yet the people surrounding him are mocking him. To me, the candle he is holding symbolizes hope and him finding his way out of the crowd.

Analysis

Lines are used to outline objects (e.g. people, clothes, car and buildings) and show their shadows. The painting has a smooth texture and is true to scale. All elements can be easily perceived as they are clear cut and sharply defined. There is a light source shining top down above the man holding the candle. Light reflection is found on his hair.

Depth is also seen as the elements overlap, vary in size and the way they are positioned. Asymmetrical balance is applied in this painting. Despite the various shapes and sizes of the elements, depth ensures balance in their perceptual weight visually. For instance, the perceptual weight of the man on the left balances with the perceptual weight of the couple on the right.

Majority of the painting uses neutral colors such as grey and brown. Dull colors are used on most of the passersby while light colors are used on the man with the candle, allowing him stand out and become the center of attention. The primary color red is only used on certain items such as car, purse and fire hydrant. All elements are monochromatic, where different shades of the same hue is applied to show the shadows.

Lim Yew Kuan is a widely known second-generation Nanyang Style artist who was born in Xiamen, China. His artworks include painting, printmaking and sculpturing.

Searching depicts a scene of a laborer walking past a group of staring, well-heeled passersby. It was one of the works created to display social reality – inspired when Lim witnessed and observed the rising social inequalities in society, social injustices during the Japanese Occupation and the social realism movement in China in the 1950s and 1960s. Searching is considered as an art that belongs to the Impressionist art movement.