Harbour

An early work of the artist, the present work reveals the influences of Picasso and Gauguin on Soo Pieng. Michael Sullivan has remarked "He has carved out for himself a remarkably consistent style, so that on entering a room one can pick out a Soo Pieng at once, by its combination of a fine sense of design, firm, angular forms, and a colour-scheme that is never less than bold and is often arresting. His preoccupation with design leaves nothing to chance. Line, form and colour are bent to the creation of a wholly satisfying composition, as fully intergrated as a piece of architecture. At the same time, he has not removed himself into a world of pure abstraction; like other leading artists in Singapore, he derives his theme directly from the life around him."

Among the four pioneering artists in Singapore, Soo Pieng is best known for his stylistic variations. Much liked for his creations of women with elongated arms and almond-shaped eyes, the present work however documents a crucial stage of the artist as Sullivan has descibed "a wholly satisfying composition, as fully integrated as a piece of architecture."