Image size: 56.0 x 78.0 cm
Nhek Dim was the foremost visual artist in Cambodia during the heady decades between independence, achieved in 1953, and the Khmer Rouge genocide, which took hold in 1975. Originally trained in the School of Cambodian Arts in Phnom Penh, Nhek Dim took up employment with the United States Information Service (USIS) in the late 1950s, and with USIS support continued his studies in the Philippines during 1957, and then with Walt Disney Corporation in the US from 1963 to 1967. This painting of a rural scene typifies Nhek Dim's oeuvre from before his US study. Its idealisation of the productivity of a rural village aligns closely with the political programme of Norodom Sihanouk, the former king who at the time ruled Cambodia as prince and later Head of State. This painting was exhibited in the first of three annual painting competitions organised by the USIS, and subsequently included in an illustrated calendar widely distributed throughout Cambodia, and in USIS publications such as "Free World" magazine.
