Details
CollectionSouth & Southeast Asian Collection
Object numberS1956-0015-001-0
TitleKampong
CreatorChen Chong Swee
DescriptionThis work was acquired by Michael Sullivan for the museum. Lke Chen Wen Hsi's Fishes in the Pond, it points us to the antecedent aesthetic traditions that informed the birth of Nanyang style.A Chinese ink and brush painting of a Malay fishing village that successfully integrated Chinese scroll painting technique and composition with western watercolour realism. A painting such as this laid the foundation of what was later to be known as the Nanyang style.“A native, of the Guangdong Province in China, Chen Chong Swee migrated to Singapore the year he graduated from the Xinhua Art Academy, Shanghai, in 1931. Chen extended his artistic pursuits on a number of fronts as a painter, writer, and educator, the latter of which he was most noted. He taught art in a number of Chinese schools in Singapore, including NAFA, and proved to be an influential art educator. In 1935, he cofounded the Salon Art Society, now known as the Singapore Society of Chinese Artists. As one of the pioneers of modern Singapore art, and a key figure of the Nanyang School, he was awarded the Meritorious Public Service Star by the Singapore government in 1965.
Like Chen Wen Hsi, Cheong Soo Pieng and Liu Kang, Chen was concerned with forging ways to articulate Nanyang or regional Southeast Asian identity. Kampong of 1949 exemplifies Chen’s early endeavours towards local imageries in the Chinese ink and brush landscape format. In 1952, Chen accompanied Chen, Liu and Cheong, on a painting trip to Bali. The trip surfaced Bali as a source for imaging the Nanyang.” (Highlights of Southeast Asian Collection)
Production placeSingapore
Production date 1949
Object categoryChinese Painting, Painting
MaterialChinese Ink, Ink
Dimensions
H: 114.3 cm
L: 68.5 cm
H: 237.5 cm
L: 95 cm
L: 68.5 cm
H: 237.5 cm
L: 95 cm

