Synopsis

​

A pioneer of the Nanyang art style and a key figure in Singapore modern art scene, Cheong Soo Pieng (1917 - 1983) is widely revered as one of the most prolific artists of his generation. Born in Xiamen, China, Soo Pieng studied at Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts and furthered his education at Xinhua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai. Being schooled in the Beaux-Arts mode of education—then common of art academies in Shanghai—was pivotal in exposing Soo Pieng to the fundamentals of Chinese and Western Modern art during his early formative period in China. In 1946, Soo Pieng relocated to Singapore where he taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and began his fervent amalgamation of Western and Chinese pictorial styles, often drawing inspiration from themes and subject matters relating to his new, immediate environment in Southeast Asia.

This is the first bilingual publication—with English and Chinese text—documenting the development of Soo Pieng’s work as it evolved over the course of five decades. This full-colour and richly illustrated book presents approximately 200 artwork images—oils, watercolours, drawings, sculptures, mixed media—including a large number of rarely-seen pieces from private collections. The book discusses Soo Peng’s multifaceted art practice in a chronological development to help readers understand the diverse styles that emerged and were synthesised during the different periods of the artist’s career.