SINGAPORE – The private art collections of five schools reflecting renowned local artists’ relationships with these educational institutions are on public display for the first time at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre .
Many of the 28 artists showcased, including Cheong Soo Pieng, Liu Kang, Chua Ek Kay, Wong Keen and Lim Tze Peng, were from the five schools. “Schools provided livelihood for artists and a platform for them to nurture younger generations of artists and art lovers. This exhibition provides a good opportunity to develop a better understanding of such networks of relationships in our local art scene,” said Mr Low.
“Such nurturing efforts would bear fruit when graduates from these schools – such as painter Wong Keen from Chinese High and Lim Tze Peng from Chung Cheng – eventually became well-known artists,” he said.One of the works on display is Chua Ek Kay’s 1975 ink and colour painting Orchid, from Catholic High School’s collection. It is among 25 paintings the artist donated to his alma mater before he died in 2008.
Painting by Chen Wen Hsi from Hwa Chong Institute . ST PHOTO: LUTHER LAUMany of them blended Eastern and Western styles to create a distinctive “Nanyang style” art form, which is an important part of Singapore’s artistic heritage and culture.