Visitors to The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur will doubtless have sighted the many art installations, sculptures and paintings that adorn the hotel. The impetus behind this flourishing landscape of artistic works originates from its shareholder Tan Sri Chua Ma Yu and his eldest daughter Carmen Chua who began their art collecting journey jointly, around the time the latter had graduated and returned to Malaysia. “I hadn’t really been into art up till that point,” Tan Sri Chua recalls. “When my eldest daughter began recommending pieces to me, I started reading up about the artists and eventually bought, and followed the art market.” 

His present-day collection revolves around blue-chip artists and their artworks. His appreciation for pop and contemporary art kickstarted with Andy Warhol, which includes first-hand pieces purchased directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation. From here, Tan Sri Chua ventured to other contemporary artists such as Roy Lichtenstein (widely seen as the other pop art master to Warhol in their time), Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Fernando Botero (with a collection spanning the artist’s scriptures, paintings and sculptures) and Auguste Rodin’s iconic The Thinker, purchased as part of a  fund-raising drive to repair the roof of Musée Rodin in Paris. The collection also includes celebrated Chinese calligraphy by emperor Qianlong 乾隆 (弘曆) and paintings by the dowager empress Cixi 慈禧, Xu Bei Hong 徐悲鸿, Yu Youren 于右任 and Jao Tsung-I (饒宗颐). Within the collection, South-east Asian names that have made it into the collection are Singaporeans Tan Swee Hian 陈瑞献, Chen Wen Hsi 陈文希, and Henry Chen Kezhan 陈克湛, as well as some of Malaysia’s top senior artists such as Ibrahim Hussein, Jolly Koh and Ismail Abdul Latiff, and also Indonesian Nisan Kristiyanto whose contemporary works have been chosen by Indonesian president Jokowi as state gifts.

This approach of buying these household names mirrors his investing strategies: “These artists are more marketable and it’s very much like stocks and shares. You want to be sure that the market will continue to be a good place for them if you ever need liquidity.

Auction Approach

In any case, acquisition via auction is a process involving many stages. Once Tan Sri Chua makes known his interest in a piece, he first reviews the condition report by the auction house’s art experts detailing the state of the painting. These experts also provide the necessary research and detail the works’ provenance, making it easy for future buyers to understand the history of the specific piece. “It’s really a question of safety and security.”

As the Tan Sri Chua is not physically present at an auction preview, a condition report by the art experts offers the necessary information on the art piece in question. “In some cases, these artworks are over a century old,” Tan Sri Chua points out. Should any interested buyer then wish to acquire the artwork, he would need to first register his interest in bidding for it, in most cases with membership at the auction house as a requirement, particularly with high-value pieces which also demand a financial reference, be it a guarantee, deposit or such other security. (Membership is also a prerequisite for some auction houses to provide condition reports).

To Protect and Conserve

Safety and security go beyond the obvious. Tan Sri Chua’s collection is presently installed in multiple locations that include a home gallery that spans 8,000 square feet and an office gallery of 15,000 square feet. A collection this vast immediately necessitates a deeper understanding of framing and conservation in order for it to remain in impeccable, museum-grade condition. Some pieces go on rotation while others are kept in secured in storage.

“The galleries require humidity and temperature control as many are very sensitive to heat, especially with a harsh climate like Malaysia’s,” says Tan Sri Chua. That, coupled with the kind of specificity required to transport and install today’s modern artwork, accounts for why he entrusts his collection to only two regional experts: Certified Picture Framer Stephen Yip of Q Art Conservation in Singapore and Malaysian installation professional, Ben Oh of Ben Art & Installation Services. 

“It is not just a case of fabricating a frame structure to hang on the wall,” Yip says. “We take a very holistic approach to framing. It incorporates many disciplines as well as a fair bit of common sense.” In his approach to Tan Sri Chua’s art collection, he usually takes a week-long trip with a team of three to view the paintings, taking measurements for framing (or reframing). “We are engineers in that we design the right structure to house the artefact; we are architects because we design the structure’s aesthetics—colours, materials and so on—to best showcase the artefact.” 

Oh agrees. “There is no college here teaching installation,” he says. “I have been doing this for more than twenty years and everything I know is all from experience. Only a handful of us specialise.” When the process of framing is completed by Yips Q Art Conservation, Oh’s Ben Art & Installation Services takes over, transporting the customised frames from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Here, the paintings are then framed in an enclosed and clean room. This minimises the inherent risks to the artworks, ensuring that they remain in as pristine a state as when they were securely packed and air freighted in from the auction houses. 

Both emphasise a full consultation with the client and, where possible or required, the artist, prior to the start of framing and installation. “One needs to offset the pros and cons with what is most important for the client, be it visible enjoyment or protection,” says Yip 

“Those who take installation for granted think it’s just drilling and hanging,” says Oh. “In fact, we advise on every single aspect including where and how the artwork is hung depending on the space, the type of wall and the kind of hanging system. Sometimes, the artist has very specific requirements as to how to display the work and we need to keep that in mind as well.”

Best In Show

Yip adheres to the four levels of framing defined by the Fine Art Trade Guild in the UK, one of two esteemed institutions from which he is professionally certified, the other being the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) in the United States. 

Level 1 or Museum Framing, refers not only to literal museum pieces but also serves as a euphemism extending to high value items, artwork of historical value or those meant for future generations. 

The highest framing processes are employed in Level 1 and intended to be fully reversible for at least 35 years. If an artwork is deemed not inherently stable at any time, the framed work can be returned to its former state. While original frames and gilded or decorated window mounts are maintained wherever possible, qualified framers may also replicate frames so the originals can be safely stored.

Frame Up

In Level 1, the latest techniques and superior quality materials help counter any physical damage stemming from a range of concerns. These include inherent vices in the artwork or original frames, humidity and temperature, as well as air-borne or tactile pollution. 

Yip insists on proper conservation hinging or mounting using archival grade materials while computerised mat cutters are now used to allow for multiple mats, openings and grooves to minimise physical human touch. 

His atelier only uses museum-grade 100 per cent cotton rag matboards, because untreated wood pulp mats retain the wood’s lignin which is highly acidic and releases off-gasses when exposed to UV light. “This way, if we do detect acidity, we know that it is not transferred from the frame mats but from its immediate environment.”

Although the first step for conventional picture framing is to use acid-free materials, there is a notable difference between the terms ‘acid-free’ and ‘free of acids’, the latter being almost impossible to achieve given the many variables. “With acid-free, we are talking about the man-made process of extracting as much lignin as possible from the wood pulp like the treated or purified wood pulp mats we use in Level 2 or Conservation Level,” Yip says. The cleanest possible environment is also required. “When preparing what we call the package, we have to be in an environment that is as clean and uncluttered as possible to prevent any accidents,” Yip says. “The framer also has to take care when it comes to handling to avoid any dust or grime on the artefact.”

To Glaze or Not to Glaze

At either level and depending on the type of artwork, UV filtering glazing is used to block up to 99 per cent of all UV rays. Light source protection is just one of many other aspects to consider when it comes to putting an artwork behind glass or acrylic. This includes the quality of framing glass or acrylic used, its anti-reflective properties as well as its clarity. 

“Having a glass or acrylic barrier has its advantages as it guards against dust and human touch especially if the work is structurally weak or paint is starting to fleck,” says Yip. A clear barrier also helps prevent dust from settling in the minute crevices of paint in paintings with a more 3D effect. 

Artwork can also be preserved in a microclimate frame where it is sealed between glass, an impermeable lining and backboard. In some cases where the artefact is a physical item, sealing it within a museum-grade shadowbox framing helps conserve the collectible.

The decision in the method of framing would lie in where the artwork or artefact will be hung, the lighting conditions, humidity levels and the client’s intentions for the piece. “A work of art is meant to be seen,” says Yip. “Anything in front of the artwork is going to have a certain amount of visual interference. The higher the UV blockage, the less visible the artwork. Even with anti-reflective glass or acrylic where reflection is reduced to one per cent, you may still see a faint line if the lighting is not considered or controlled.” 

The Hang of Things

Oh’s area of expertise takes over when the artwork is ready to be installed, having already predetermined the height at which the art piece is hung, the type of wall to assess how much weight it can handle, key walls to feature specific pieces, the kinds of finishes to complement the piece and the hanging system used. 

Depending on the size and type of art or artefact, the piece is carefully wrapped in protective materials such as fabric, bubble wrap or foam then moved into a carpet-lined lorry for transportation.

Where typically art is hung at eye level, the scale and height of the room may also determine whether the piece should be hung higher and lower, particularly in a setting that is not a purpose-built gallery. Just as important is the scale of the artwork versus the size of the room it is displayed in for better viewing pleasure and appreciation. “Unless it is the artist’s intent, a very large painting will not view well in a room without the appropriate distance,” says Oh. “That said, we never just say no. There may be a way after a proper consultation of the room.” 

With installation art becoming increasingly more cutting age, Oh constantly updates himself on novel techniques to complement this burgeoning artform. He was already ahead of his time when he first forayed into exclusively installing fine art and was also arguably the first in the country to use a laser leveller when hanging the artwork for sharper accuracy. Hanging systems, too, have evolved with numerous options to work with.

“Tan Sri Chua uses different hanging systems for either gallery,” says Oh. “The gallery in his home requires a half cable system with steel wires so he is able to interchange the art easily without constantly having to keep drilling holes into the walls. There are less changes in his office and therefore, a more straightforward method of hanging is used.”

This story is a condensed version of an upcoming coffee table book entitled Chua Ma Yu, which chronicles the lifestyle and artistic pursuits and collections of Tan Sri Chua Ma Yu.