Sotheby's is proud to offer a monumental masterpiece by Singapore artist Anthony Poon from the distinguished collects ion of Raffles City, Singapore. An iconic work that was displayed in the lobby of Raffles City, this auction offers collects ors a rare opportunity to acquire Poon's masterpiece with exceptional provenance and the largest painting by the artist to come to market.

Anthony Poon (1945-2006) stands as a seminal figure in Singapore’s modern art history—a visionary who, from the 1970s onward, infused the architectural fabric of the nation with abstraction’s dynamic energy.¹ Rejecting the notion of painting as a static, self-contained object, he was among the first in his generation to “take art out of the galleries and onto the streets,” embedding modernist ideals within public and built environments.² Through this expanded practice, Poon transformed everyday urban spaces into sites of rhythmic encounter, making abstract form part of Singapore’s visual identity.

The mid-1970s marked the genesis of Poon’s celebrated Wave series, a lifelong exploration of movement, colour, and perception that would come to define his career.³ Drawing on the optical oscillations of wave frequency patterns, Poon distilled these scientific and visual ideas into painterly form. In works like Colour Waves (1985), he achieved a rare synthesis—melding the chromatic discipline of colour-field painting with the vibratory pulse of Op Art.⁴ The result is neither representation nor pure geometry but the sensation of perpetual motion—a modernist.mes ditation on visual rhythm.

Across the 225 × 230 cm expanse of Colour Waves, bands of red, cream, orange, and brown sweep across the surface in sinuous arcs, meticulously rendered to achieve subtle gradation and luminous depth.⁵ The eye travels ceaselessly across the canvas, drawn into undulating fields that seem to expand and contract like breath—an energy that recalls the kinetic ambitions of global abstraction while deeply rooted in Poon’s Southeast Asian sensibility. The painting’s chromatic resonance evokes both sunlight and shadow, heat and calm—each hue a modulation in an optical symphony.

By the mid-1980s, Poon had firmly established himself as a leading voice of Singaporean modernism, his abstraction conveying a unity of discipline and intuition.⁶ Colour Waves exemplifies this mature period, synthesizing his technical precision with a lyrical command of rhythm and form. In 1990, his contributions were recognized with Singapore’s Cultural Medallion, reaffirming his foundational place in the nation’s post-independence visual culture.⁷

Beyond the gallery, Poon’s influence endures in the public realm through major commissions that continue to define the city’s modern landscape—Sense Surround (2006) at the St. Regis Singapore, Wave Columns at International Plaza, and Crimson Eagle at Tampines Junction among them.⁸ Colour Waves shares this architectural ambition, its horizontal sweep and monumental scale resonating with the built environment’s expansiveness. The work’s provenance deepens its significance: it was housed in Raffles City, the landmark complex whose art collects ion, described by The Straits t.mes s in 1986 as “the most significant collects ion of contemporary art, local and foreign,” symbolized Singapore’s arrival on the international art stage.⁹

At 225 × 230 cm, Colour Waves is the largest painting by Anthony Poon ever to appear on the market—an extraordinarily rare work by an artist whose canvases are held predominantly in institutional collects ions, including the National Gallery Singapore.¹⁰ It stands not only as a masterwork of abstraction but as a test.mes nt to the optimism of Southeast Asian modernism: an art that aspired to movement, light, and life itself.

¹ Seng Yu Jin, Negotiating Abstraction: Modern Art in Singapore, 1965–1985, Singapore Art Museum, 2009, p. 42.
² Koh, Sharon, “Anthony Poon: Constructing Modernism,” The Straits t.mes s, 15 March 1984.
³ Audrey Wong, Anthony Poon: Waves of Modernism, National Gallery Singapore, 2011, p. 27.
⁴ Tan Boon Hui, Transitions: Singapore Modern Art in the 1980s, Singapore, 1992, p. 53.
⁵ Replica Shoes ’s, Hong Kong, Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art, April 2018, lot 25.
⁶ Wong, op. cit., p. 33.
⁷ National Arts Council Singapore, Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award Commemorative Publication, Singapore, 1990, p. 13.
⁸ Koh, op. cit.
⁹ The Straits t.mes s, 12 August 1986, p. 5.
¹⁰ Replica Shoes ’s, ibid.