ART AUCTION
ART COLLECTION SHOWING RESILIENCE TO PANDEMIC Achieving RM2.75 million in 3.5-hour of art auction, all through zero floor bidding.
H
enry Butcher Malaysian and Southeast Asian Art Auction recorded RM2.75 million sale in just three-and-a-half-hour on 15 November 2020. Due to the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), no floor bidding took place to observe the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures). In its place were telephone, online and absentee biddings. “The result is encouraging, considering the current sluggish economic atmosphere, and with no floor bidding being carried out. We sincerely appreciate the continuous support from the buyers and art collectors,” said Sim Polenn, Director of Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers. The top-selling masterpiece is one painted by Datuk Ibrahim Hussein in 1980, titled Figures On The Beach, which sold for RM588,000. Datuk Ibrahim brilliantly executed this work, leaving the upper part of the painting in a simple plain background colour, which made the concentrated linear compositions at the centre and bottom part stand out, with sinuous rhythm and decorative veneer that mesmerised the viewers. At the Henry Butcher Art Auction August 2020 edition, Datuk Ibrahim Hussein’s Calama Desert was sold at RM918,000, the highest public auction record set by the artist in the local art auction scene. Abdul Latiff Mohidin’s 1990s Rimba was sold for RM201,600 while another early abstract artwork painted by Datuk Ibrahim Hussein in 1967, Untitled, oil on jute was sold for RM134,400.
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HB PERSPECTIVE 2021
Encouraged by the results despite the pandemic, Director of Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers Sim Polenn.
On the front cover of the auction catalogue was also the top selling masterpiece by Datuk Ibrahim Hussein; Lot 148, Ibrahim Hussein, Datuk (b. Kedah, 1936 - d. Kuala Lumpur, 2009) Figures On The Beach, 1980, sold for RM588,000.
Lot 82, Abdul Latiff Mohidin (b. Negeri Sembilan, 1941), Rimba, c. 1990s, sold for RM201,600.
