Details
CHIA YU CHIAN
(MALAYSIAN, 1936-1991)
Paris
signed and titled 'Paris. Yu Chian' (lower right)
oil on board
62.5 x 51.5 cm. (24 2/3 x 20 1/5 in.)
Provenance
Private Collection, Malaysia

Lot Essay

Born in 1936, Chia Yu Chian pursued his education in Singapore and graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. As a second-generation Nanyang artist, Chia was influenced by the works of Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng and Georgette Chen. He was the first artist from the Straits Settlement to receive a scholarship to pursue art at Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts de Pari. In 1959, Chia received an Honourable Mention at the Salon des Independent and Societe des Artists Francaise in Paris. Most of his works depict village scenes, daily village life and landscapes.

This season, Christie's presents two works from Chia Yu Chian's oeuvre. These two works depict Chia's stylistic transitions over the years, and reveals the mastery of the artist's paintings. Though both are early pieces, Nanyang Landscape (Lot 250) and Paris (Lot 251) and are two vastly different works, with regards to painting technique and use of colour. The deft brush strokes and impasto seen in Paris, and the smooth and subtle gradation of colours in Nanyang Landscape, shows Chia's ability to switch between Western and Chinese influences. Chia's palette in Paris, mostly blue and grey hues, exudes a cold and frosty atmosphere, possibly a depiction of Paris during winter.

Nanyang Landscape depicts a typical village scene by the cliff side. Though it is quite representative of a Chinese painting, the brush strokes are still quire impressionistic in nature and the mix of warm and cool colour tones are bring forth the tranquil of everyday life, but at the same time exudes a sense of warmness and hospitality of people living by the cliff side.

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