There must be a special occasion for this Malay boy to be clean-scrubbed and all dressed up in satiny blue Baju Melayu with songkok in place, seated on a polished wooden chair meant for an adult. Hari Raya, religious school classes or even the first day of proper school term? He looks big enough to have gone through the sunat (circumcision) ceremony of every Muslim boy by the age of seven. There is a slight tremor in his eyes as he looks at camera, in this case, his portrait artist. If Yati (Mazli Mat Som’s iconic painting, 1964) is an epitome of female Malay adolescence, this boy is the male counterpart. Whoever this boy is, he has travelled as a painting by figurative icon Mazli Mat Som with the collector to Denmark, and is now back on Malaysian shores. Props (furniture) is spartan and the pastel shades as backdrop afford a homey, intimate aura exuding innocence. This is a major piece of an already difficult to get Mazli, and surely ranks as a gender companion to Yati. Interestingly, it’s tempting to compare this Malay Boy to Khalil Ibrahim’s oil, Portrait Of A Boy (1966, sold in Henry Butcher Art Auction Oct 28, 2018), in school uniform, with the insouciance of childhood. Mazli Mat Som, who succeeded Dato’ Hoessein Enas to helm the Angkatan Pelukis SeMalaysia (previously SeMenanjung), is best known for his two iconic works in the collection of the National Art Gallery: Menanti Nelayan (1961) and Yati (1964). As a protégé of Dato’ Hoessein, he upheld and promoted the best figurative traditions but died five years before his mentor. Among those prominent active during his time were Idris Salam, Mohd Sallehuddin, Sabtu Mohd Yusof and his wife Hamidah Suhaimi, who painted similarly well in the figurative tradition.