This may be Datuk Ibrahim Hussein’s last of his ‘Red Chamber’ oeuvre of amorous private moments celebrating the joyous liaison of a man and his woman, a theme Ib, as the iconic artist is more popularly called, had revisited several times since his 1964 painting, Lovers. Others such as The Kiss (1968), Embrace (1971), Monorobos (1971), Intimacy (1972), Coupling (1970) and Coupling II (2 panels, 1983) followed, all with different whiplash of forms and their own unique compositions. The intimacy in this large piece is more muted, if not concealed yet more symbolic. Faith, Hope, and Love, Love is among the greatest. A piece about true love, unconditional love, devoted dedication, unbreakable trust, great affection, sincere care, steely support and 100% trust...between the two. The two become one. Datuk Ib died on Feb 19, 2009, just 22 days short of his 73rd birthday. Datuk Ib and Datin Sim famously did everything together at home and abroad, and was known to have a virtual telepathic understanding on personal or art-business issues. This is more likely a profound tribute of a couple having spent a long time together, trials and tribulations et al. If there are figures, whatever the poses, gestures or actions, they are less obvious or defined unlike in his earlier works. The title too, Just The Two Of Us, has a romantic ring to it, recalling Grover Washington Jnr and Bill Withers’ 1981 R&B hit single. Here, Datuk Ib’s closely-etched rhythmic lines get the fuzzy treatment and several parts have interlocking cross-hatched lines for a denser contrast, probably simulating checked movement. As he said: “To me, painting is like praying. When I paint, I am tdealing with my heart, my work and God. There is deep joy and gratitude. Each piece frames a moment in my life.” Therein lies the legacy of Datuk Ib, or as he put it, half self-deprecatingly, in the letter-pressed text of his work, He Says: One blind eye, one broken tooth, one mole. The Malaysian auction record for Datuk Ibrahim Hussein was set at the May 2012 Henry Butcher Art Auction (HBAA) when his Red, Orange And Core (1984) sold for a premium of RM797,500, after registering RM572,000 (The Dream) at the HBAA 2010 inaugural auction. The legendary Datuk Ibrahim Hussein is the most internationally iconic in Malaysian art. A visionary who set up the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation museum on an 18-hectare site in Langkawi, organiser of international art festivals, three Datuk titles, a clutch of great international awards and Malaysian honours, great education pedigree, and several impactful art masterpieces. He organised the Langkawi International Art Festival in conjunction with his museum’s opening, the Asian Arts Festival at Club Mediterranee’s Bali and Cherating venues (1988, 1987). His major exhibitions include the Venice Biennale (1970), solos in Tokyo and Osaka (Takeshimaya Galleries, 1989), the Sao Paulo Biennale (1969), the Indian Triennial (1994, 1978) and the World Economic Forum (WEF, 1994) and of course, the Retrospective at the Malaysian National Art Gallery (1986). His awards include the WEF’s Crystal Award (1997), Venezuela’s Order of Andres Bello (1993), Chile’s Order of Bernardo Higgins (1996), the Japan Cultural Foundation Award (1988), and Malaysia’s Anugerah Tokoh Melayu Terbilang (2007). He was educated at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting and the Royal Academy in London, and briefly at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art in Singapore. Early on in his career, he was given solos at the John Whibley Gallery in London (1963) and Gallerie Internationale (1965) and Newsweek Gallery 10 (1968) in New York, when he received the Fulbright and John D. Rockefellow III Fund fellowships in 1967-1968. He staged a controversial solo in Manila in 1969 when Manila-Kuala Lumpur relations were frayed. He raised his profile when invited for the tripartite exhibition with Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali at the Dhait Abdullah Al Salam Gallery in Kuwait in 1977. He had also exhibited at Monte Carlo (1984), Denmark and Brussels (1984), among others.