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拍品專文
"More than any other artist in Singapore, Cheong (1917-1983) dared to traverse different frontiers in the art world. He transformed norms, extended limits, created new ways of making art and pointed to directions that still remain to be explored." (T.K. Sabapathy on the legacy of Cheong Soo Pieng in Breaking All the Rules, Writing the Modern: Selected Texts on Art & Art History in Singapore, Malaysia & Southeast Asia 1973-2015, Singapore Art Museum,2018, P. 75)
A picturesque glimpse into the historically rich culture of Southeast Asia, River Life (Lot 186) by Cheong Soo Pieng projects a dreamlike landscape of a Kampong and its people. Shrouded by nature and like many of his other works of village life, Cheong applies a largely monochromatic palette of earth hues in a translucent manner, building it up with outlines and darker tones, reminiscent of Chinese ink painting and watercolour techniques. Cheong was a proficient artist in the two mediums above mentioned as he was trained Xiamen Academy of Fine Art and at the Sin Hwa Academy of Fine Art in Shanghai, prior to his move to Singapore. During his career in Singapore, Cheong was not only a lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, but also embarked on his own artistic endeavours. Inspired by his surroundings and his travels around the region, especially in context with the pivotal Bali trip with three other fellow Singaporean artists, Liu Kang, Chen Wen Hsi and Chen Chong Swee, Cheong became absorbed in his observations of the the indigenous people and their way of life and translated what he saw into his work. The artist enjoyed depicting the natives and the silhouettes of his long and thin figures, dressed in traditional wear as seen in this present lot became distinct feature of Cheong's paintings. Dated 1978, this oil on jute work is an exemplar of Cheong's interpretation of the Nanyang Style of painting developed in Singapore, which drew from both East Asian and Western techniques and ideologies. Coming to the end of Cheong's career, his artistic evolution had reached its peak and the confident manner in which the painting is composed and executed in detail, is a timeless example of his continuous effort and undying vision of the region.
A picturesque glimpse into the historically rich culture of Southeast Asia, River Life (Lot 186) by Cheong Soo Pieng projects a dreamlike landscape of a Kampong and its people. Shrouded by nature and like many of his other works of village life, Cheong applies a largely monochromatic palette of earth hues in a translucent manner, building it up with outlines and darker tones, reminiscent of Chinese ink painting and watercolour techniques. Cheong was a proficient artist in the two mediums above mentioned as he was trained Xiamen Academy of Fine Art and at the Sin Hwa Academy of Fine Art in Shanghai, prior to his move to Singapore. During his career in Singapore, Cheong was not only a lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, but also embarked on his own artistic endeavours. Inspired by his surroundings and his travels around the region, especially in context with the pivotal Bali trip with three other fellow Singaporean artists, Liu Kang, Chen Wen Hsi and Chen Chong Swee, Cheong became absorbed in his observations of the the indigenous people and their way of life and translated what he saw into his work. The artist enjoyed depicting the natives and the silhouettes of his long and thin figures, dressed in traditional wear as seen in this present lot became distinct feature of Cheong's paintings. Dated 1978, this oil on jute work is an exemplar of Cheong's interpretation of the Nanyang Style of painting developed in Singapore, which drew from both East Asian and Western techniques and ideologies. Coming to the end of Cheong's career, his artistic evolution had reached its peak and the confident manner in which the painting is composed and executed in detail, is a timeless example of his continuous effort and undying vision of the region.