Choy Weng Yang

Horizontals I

1977
Oil on canvas, 92 x 92 cm

Collection of National Gallery
Singapore 2007-00007

Gift of the artist
Collection of National Gallery Singapore

Choy Weng Yang won a scholarship to the Hornsey College of Art in London, UK, where he often visited the galleries and museums to study famous artworks. Choy also travelled extensively in Europe, and the exposure to modern art during that period greatly influenced his art later in life.

Here, Choy expresses an uneven treatment of painting, which reveals an intuitive rather than scientific approach to colours.

Liu Kang

White Sail

1961
Oil on masonite, 71.5 x 58.5 cm

Collection of National Gallery Singapore

Liu Kang was born in Fujian, China, and spent his childhood in Malaysia. He studied art in Shanghai and Paris, and was an admirer of French-based modernist painters like Cézanne, van Gogh and Matisse.

Chuah Thean Teng

Mother and Children

Undated
Batik on cotton, 82.6 x 45 cm

Collection of National Gallery Singapore

Born in Fukien, China, Chuah Thean Teng moved to what was then known as Malaya in 1932, before settling in Penang. While residing there, he learnt more about the craft of traditional batik and experimented with it, treating it as another form of painting.

Yeh Chi Wei

Drummer

c. 1965
Oil on canvas, 104.5 x 91.5 cm

Collection of National Gallery Singapore
© Yeh Toh Yen

Artist Yeh Chi Wei travelled around Southeast Asia during the 1960s, during which he collected local artefacts such as textiles, wooden sculptures, and old Chinese ceramics. The stylistic influences visible in this work are drawn from such artefacts, and reveal the artist’s interest in indigenous motifs and patterns.