Abdullah Ariff Landscape Watercolor Painting "Hilly Road," 1956
Item Details
Abdullah Ariff (Malaysia, 1904 – 1962)
Hilly Road, 1956
Watercolor painting on paper
Signed to the lower left
Artist’s blind stamp to the upper left corner
Label to the verso of the paper; red-stamped “C” to verso upper left
Abdullah Ariff was born in a Peranakan Jawi family of ten whose parents were of Turkish descent. At age nine, in 1913 he persevered to enter the Anglo-Chinese School despite his mature age for primary school. The Principal, Reverend G.F. Pykett was reluctant to accept his application at first but later acknowledged his diligence at school when he passed his Senior Cambridge in 1925.
He was then hired as an art teacher at his alma mater and taught there for the next six years. By then, he was already exhibiting his works and was invited to become a member of the Penang Impressionist Society (1932 – 1941), an all-Caucasian art club registered in 1898. Abdullah Ariff contributed his drawings and linocut illustrations to local publications such as ‘Dewasa’, ‘The Penang Anglo-Chinese School Magazine’, ‘Suara Malaysia’ and more in the 1930s.
He was appointed the artist for the air-raid-precaution before the Japanese invasion – a group of civil defense volunteers preparing to deal with emergency situations brought about by war – which entailed him to produce sketches found in the Straits Echo newspaper. During the Japanese occupation, he was sold to the idea of “Greater Asia” promoted by the Japanese.
He was elected Chairman of the Muslim Advisory Board that represented Penang and Province Wellesley with the approval of the Japanese Governor of Penang, Lieutenant-General Shotaro-Katayama. He published his pro-Japanese and anti-West satirical cartoons in Penang Daily News.
When the British returned to Malaya at the end of the Second World War, Abdullah Ariff was arrested and incarcerated for five days on charges that he was a collaborator but was released because there was no provision in the law to prosecute him for submitting sketches to the newspaper. Abdullah Ariff was also the Chairman of the Penang Teachers Union and he participated in an exhibition in the United States of America upon the request of his school Principal Dr. H.H. Peterson from North Carolina.
Eighty watercolor paintings was sent to the Myers Park Methodist Church in Charlotte and was displayed at the Ownbey Fellowship Hall, curated by Paul Allen. The show was attended by over 500 people and due to its success, another show was organized at the Mint Museum of Art. Eleven paintings was sold amounting to 2000 dollars Malayan which he donated to the Anglo Chinese School.
He was the first Malayan to be selected into the Fellowship in the Royal Society of Arts (F.R.S.A) in England in 1955. As a politically astute man, he was elected Executive member of UMNO in 1950 and ran for the Municipal Council to represent Jelutong Ward in 1946. He adopted the moniker ‘Shap’ for his illustration contributions to the Straits Echo.
Abdullah Ariff continued to become a prominent figure in art education and politics until his demise in 1960, mourned by thousands of Penangites at his funeral. Two streets were named after him Jalan Abdullah Ariff and Lintang Abdullah Ariff in Penang.
- biography from Askart.com
Condition
- toning and discolorations to sheet; abrasions and nicks to frame; item examined outside of the frame and taped cuts to the backing paper to the verso.
Dimensions
- measures frame; sight measures 19.5" W x 13.5" H.
Item #
ITMGK55170
