Vibrant, tropical colours of green and blue hues inspired by the landscape are reflected in this work. Batik sarongs were first produced in Kelantan during the 1930s and later appeared in Terengganu. An industrious artist, Teng used batik to create a distinct Malaysian art which celebrates the conflation of Eastern and Western techniques, elevating the status of batik painting from craft to fine art. A mother and child are feeding an approaching cat with a fish. It’s feeding time! Dato’ Chuah Thean Teng, world acknowledged as the originator of Batik Painting, brought several further innovations since he developed the art in 1953. In Chinese Art In The 20th Century (1959), Professor Michael Sullivan wrote: “In Teng, Malaya claims to have found her first national painter. Teng has conceived the idea of making pictures in batik – not just decorative designs, but large and frequently complex figure compositions.” He was the first Malaysian (after British-born Peter Harris) to be given a Retrospective in 1965 by the National Art Gallery (The NAG again accorded him a Tribute (Memorial) exhibition in 2008), while Penang accorded him a Retrospective in 1994. In 1998, he was conferred a Datoship and in 2005, Penang’s ‘Live Heritage Award’. Images of his works, Two Of A Kind (1968) and Tell You A Secret (1987) were chosen for UNICEF’s greeting cards. He was the only Malaysian in a roll of great world artists invited to take part in the Commonwealth Artists of Fame exhibition in London, to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1977. He set up his flagship Yahong Art Gallery first at Leith Street, Penang, in 1953 and moved it to Batu Ferringhi in 1974.