Adaptation of the Post-impressionist Style in Yong Mun Sen and Tay Hooi Keat’s Art Works

Abstract

It is a common understanding that the Malaysian modern art was mostly brought and introduced by Chinese emigres; yet, there happened to be a few artists—among the Chinese—who were born in Malaya and developed their artistic practices within the Malayan construct. Among them were Yong Mun Sen and Tay Hooi Keat, who practiced the art in Malaya before Independence and formed the early Penang Chinese Art Club in 1935. Although not much is known about the Penang Chinese Art Club due to lack of substantial evidence of their artistic activities, the contribution of this group were pertinent—they provide an early collective form of artistic activities and exhibitions to the Malayans in Penang at that time as a reaction toward the expatriate group of the Penang Impressionists. Yong Mun Sen’s and Tay Hooi Keat’s oil painting artworks as this paper will examine attest to the adaptation of post-impressionism in the Malayan context. These artists have accepted, adapted, and transformed this Western art style to render the local landscapes, scenes, and situations.