Sanip Lasman’s debut in the Henry Butcher Art Auction spins from his Seri Mersing series, linked somewhat to the coastal erstwhile barren land steeped in the legend that begets a film of the same title and joget songs, sung by two songbird legends Datin Seri Siti Nurhaliza, and Datin Sharifah Aini. Another story links the place to Amer Singh, thus ‘Mer’ Singh, banished from the regal Pahang courts for elopement with a palace maid. Whatever the label, the impetus in all works by Sanip Lasman is on landscapes, local landscapes, not as pictorial representations, but more so an emotional bubble in time, space and maybe, history. There is the inherent tensions, mystery, beauty and like the oeuvre of Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal, replete with symbolisms. Both are friends. It is hallmark of the veteran artist painting for 60 years that he is still at his canvas at 84, he is still working on his canvas. Sanip was one of the early Malays who graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art in Singapore, in 1961. His is a lifelong devotion to landsapes with series such as Sri Mersing, Endau-Rompin, Gunung Ledang and more recently, Gelorasa. He was also a past president of the Johor Artists Society and the Johor Historical Society.