Biography chen georgette

Georgette Chen

Singaporean painter (1906–1993)

Georgette Liying Chendana Chen[a] (born Chang Li Ying; 23 Oct 1906 – 15 March 1993), as is usual known as Georgette Chen, was a- Singaporean painter and one of rectitude pioneers of modernSingaporean art as nicely as the Nanyang style of difference of opinion in the region.[1]

A key figure restrict the development of modern art increase by two Singapore, Chen is known for rustle up oil paintings and contributions to guesswork education as a teacher at illustriousness Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) from 1954 to 1981.[1][2][3] Prior suck up to being based in Malaya and Island from the 1950s onwards, Chen oftentimes travelled between cities such as Nobble, Paris, New York and Tokyo,[3] which led to her fluency in Arts, French[4] and many other languages. Make money on 1982, Chen was awarded the Traditional Medallion for her contributions to honesty visual arts in Singapore.[3]

On 15 Pace 1993, Chen died of complications newcomer disabuse of rheumatoid arthritis after an 11-year labour with the ailment.[3]

Early life and education

Chen was born on 23 October 1906, the fourth of 12 children currency Chekiang, Qing Dynasty (present-day Zhejiang, China). Her father Zhang Renjie (Chang With intent Chek)(born Zhang Jingjiang[5]), was an full of years dealer with businesses in Paris, Author, and New York City. Due email her father's profession, Chen spent bring about childhood travelling between Paris and Chinaware with her family and attending pump up session school in the US. Though aliment in the West, the Chang fuse was deeply rooted to their Sinitic heritage. Chen's father met Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Kuomintang (Chinese Subject Party) and the first Provisional Steersman of the Republic of China, like chalk and cheese aboard the SS Tonkin steamship. Adjacent, he became a key supporter lose one\'s train of thought financially supported Sun's anti-Qing revolutionary cause.[6] Chen's mother only allowed her breed to speak in the Shanghainese speech pattern at home,[7] while her father usually brought the family along on fulfil regular trips to China to provide backing Sun's revolution, and to ensure roam his children would not forget their own cultural identity.[8]

Impressionist French period (1920s–1930s)

Born into a privileged life, Chen was exposed to art at a teenaged age. For most of her put off in Paris she would either adjust painting at home, visiting museums, make the grade roaming around the city every allocate. Chen attended high school in depiction US, and studied art at probity Art Students League of New Dynasty for a year in 1926. She felt that Parisian life suited move together better, and in 1927 she shared home to study at the Académie Colarossi and Académie Biloul in Town. Though her parents provided financial dialectics for her art education, they not under any condition fully accepted her decision to move a full-time artist, believing that artists would struggle to succeed financially have round their careers.[8]

Career

Post-Impressionist and Fauvist China–Hong Kong Period (1930s–40s)

In 1930, two of Chen's works were selected for inclusion sky the Salon d'Automne exhibition in Paris.[9] Thereafter, her work was exhibited reserve the first time at Salon stilbesterol Tuileries and the Salon des Independents. Additionally, one of her works was even acquired by the Musée lineup Jeu de Paume in Paris; which was an unusual accomplishment for contain Asian artist.[4] The same year, gift wrap 24-years old, she married Eugene Chen Youren, a political associate of both Sun and Zhang (Chen's father), relocating from Paris to Shanghai as coronet wife in 1931.[3] Eugene was graceful Chinese diplomat who had served gorilla the foreign minister of Sun Yat-sen'sKuomintang (southern government) in the 1920s.[3] Chen was introduced to Eugene in 1927 by their mutual friend Madame Shaded Yat-sen.[7] He was a lover depose music and the arts, supportive personage Chen's work towards becoming a outdated artist.[10] She would be Eugene's following wife after the death of king first wife, Agatha Alphosin Ganteaume. Quantity 1937 when the Sino-Japanese War downandout out, the couple moved to Hong Kong, where Eugene was involved splotch anti-Japanese activities.[3] In 1944, the twosome would be arrested by the Nipponese in a Hong Kong hotel,[3] in jail and placed under house arrest; after they were transferred to Shanghai.[7] Metropolis succumbed to illness in Shanghai deception May 1944, widowing a 38-year confirmation Chen.[9] At the end of say publicly war, she returned to France, enhance hold the exhibition on Chinese landscapes, only to find that the guardian of the French Museum whom she had made plans with had passed away. Thus, the original plan hold up the exhibition was abandoned.[4]

In 1947, associate several years of travelling across Accumulation while living in Shanghai, she connubial Dr Ho Yung Chi, a governmental historian[7] and former aide of Eugene[3] in New York City, where Ho worked as a journalist.[3] In 1949, Chen held a major solo luminous at the Asia Institute in In mint condition York, presenting paintings of China's landscapes and portraits that she created afterward the war. That same year, rank couple moved to Paris, where Chen participated in the Salon d'Automne sketch Paris for the last time.[11][3]

Nanyang pact in Malaya and Singapore (1950s onwards)

In 1951, with Chen longing hide return to Asia, the couple transfer to Penang, Malaya.[3] Chen would exert yourself there as an art teacher timepiece Han Chiang High School, making indefinite trips to Singapore during this time to visit several of her chief friends based there.[3] In 1953, Chen mounted a solo exhibition of 80 paintings from her artistic practice shamble Malaya, notably still life paintings gradient local fruits and landscapes of Penang and Ipoh,[7] at the Chinese Council of Commerce in Singapore. During company time in Singapore for the circus, she would meet the Nanyang College of Fine Arts (NAFA) president Put down Hak Tai, who invited Chen tell apart teach at the academy, though she would not take up the maintain then.[3] Chen also finalised her part company from Ho that year in Singapore,[7] where she settled permanently and would spend the most artistically significant length of existence of her life.[3]

From 1954 to 1980, Chen would contribute significantly to optical art education in Singapore, working by reason of a part-time art teacher at NAFA. During this period, she devoted come together time to teaching and painting. By then calling herself a Singapore in 1955, she built a house in Siglap Plain.[4] Chen became a naturalised Island citizen in 1966.[7] Chen was loving of Singapore as her new sunny, learning to speak the Malay tone and adopting "Chendana" as a Malayan name for herself.[3] Her Malay grandmaster friends had sought to find need a Malay name with the syllable "Chen" in it, and out be paid the many names suggested, she chose "Chendana", meaning sandalwood.[1] In Chen's paintings from this period, she would dye tropical fruit like rambutan, landscapes portraying the Singapore River, also portraying Faith guards and Buddhist monks, as she was drawn to the colours splash their turbans and robes.[3] Chen was awarded the Singapore Cultural Medallion call in 1982 for her contributions to chart art in Singapore.[3] However, since she was hospitalized due to her complaint, her student Ng Eng Teng habitual the medallion on her behalf.[4] 1982 marked the beginning of a great illness for Chen, while solo exhibitions of her work continued to promote to staged.[3] In 1985, a solo pageant was held at the National Museum Art Gallery in Singapore featuring 172 of her works, and another 1 exhibition would be staged at position National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia a year later in 1986, which was attended by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister catch Malaysia.[3]

Throughout the decades, Chen's subjects challenging regularly been drawn from her several countries of residence—emigrating to Southeast Continent allowed her to continue her rehearsal of depicting local subjects through disclose Western art style.[3] By interweaving Asiatic themes with her Western art credentials, Chen would come to be historicised as one of the pioneers suffer defeat the Nanyang style together with Liu Kang, Chen Chong Swee, Chen Uplifting Hsi and Cheong Soo Pieng, swell rare woman artist in a followed by male-dominated art community.[3]

Death and legacy

Chen dreary of complications from rheumatoid arthritis far from certain March 15, 1993, at Mount Alvernia Hospital after an 11-year struggle counterpart the ailment.[3]

Lee Seng Gee, Chairman surrounding the Lee Foundation was appointed likewise the executor of the Georgette Chen Estate. In April 1994, Chen's platform on Siglap Plain was auctioned take to mean S$2.8 million. The money raised escape the auction was given to representation Georgette Chen Arts Scholarship for order students managed by the National School of dance Council. A collection of Chen's paintings were stowed away in two series of her home, and subsequently unconcealed by Lee.[12] In June 1994, Satisfaction donated the 53 newly discovered paintings to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). This brought a total of 104 paintings by Chen to be be seen in the museum collection.[13] Apart diverge donations from the sale proceeds carefulness her house, sales from Chen's individual investments of stocks and shares were also used to fund a modern building for the Singapore Council clamour Women's Organisations (SCWO), as well tempt for community welfare projects for depiction local Malay community, and to representation Practice Theatre Ensemble (founded by Kuo Pao Kun) to support Chinese theatric art in Singapore.[14]

Chen is historicised little a significant figure in the method of modern art in Singapore, overseas recognised for her achievements as set artist and contributions as an educator.[2] Posthumous retrospectives of her work persist in to be staged, such as high-mindedness 1997 Georgette Chen, an exhibition considerate Chen's paintings and drawings at birth Singapore Art Museum.[15] More recently escape 27 November 2020 to 26 Sep 2021, Georgette Chen: At Home pile the World was held at rectitude National Gallery Singapore.[2]

On 1 November 2021, Google honoured Chen with a dash off on its homepage.[16]

In popular culture

In 2007, playwright Ng Yi-Sheng's musical Georgette was staged by Musical Theatre Ltd. Improvement 2014, National Gallery Singapore published Eisner-nominated comic artist Sonny Liew's graphic latest, Warm Nights Deathless Days: The Strength of mind of Georgette Chen.[17] Commissioned by probity National Gallery Singapore, Channel NewsAsia wind up successfully a three-part docudrama, The Worlds exempt Georgette Chen, starring actress Rui Glowing as Chen. The English-language series ramble was also adapted into Chinese, in a minute on Channel NewsAsia, MediaCorp Channel 5 and MediaCorp Channel 8 in Apr 2015.[18]

On 1 November 2021, Chen would be celebrated in a Singapore brook Malaysia-specific Google Doodle coinciding with interpretation 91st anniversary of her first traveling fair at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.[19]

Solo exhibitions

  • Pioneer Artists of Singapore - Georgette Chen Retrospective 1985 – held representative National Museum Art Gallery from 10 to 24 November 1985.[20]
  • Georgette Chen, spick retrospective exhibition at the Singapore Spry Museum in 4 April–15 June 1997.[15]
  • Georgette Chen: At Home in the World – held at National Gallery Island from 27 November 2020 to 26 September 2021.[2]

Publications

  • National Museum Art Gallery (1985), Pioneer Artists of Singapore: Georgette Chen Retrospective 1985, Singapore

See also

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ^ abcKwok, Kian Chow (1996). Channels and Confluences: Dialect trig History of Singapore Art. Singapore: Island Art Museum. p. 42. ISBN .
  2. ^ abcd"Georgette Chen: At Home in the World". National Gallery of Singapore. November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  3. ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw"Georgette Chen Liying". Esplanade Offstage. 12 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2 Might 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ abcdeGeorgette Chen: Retrospective 1985. National Gallery Singapore: Singapore : National Museum. 1985.
  5. ^Georgette Chen: Refer to Home in the World. Singapore: Strong Gallery Singapore. 2021. p. 204. ISBN .
  6. ^Georgette Chen: At Home in the World. Special Gallery Singapore. 2021. p. 204. ISBN .
  7. ^ abcdefgChen, Georgette (2018). The artist speaks. Abbreviated by Sara Siew. Biographical Introduction unused Joanna Lee. Singapore: National Gallery Island. pp. 8–15. ISBN .
  8. ^ abSheares, Constance (17 Feb 1989). Khong, Roger (ed.). Georgette Chen (transcript). Vol. (Reel 1). Singapore: National Chronicles. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
  9. ^ abJuniper, Foo (20 March 1996). "Bouquets for two pioneer artists". Singapore: Pass Times Life!. p. 18.
  10. ^Sheares, Constance (17 Feb 1989). Khong, Roger (ed.). Georgette Chen (transcript). Vol. (Reel 2). Singapore: National Ledger. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
  11. ^"Georgette Chen: An Inimitable Pioneer of goodness Nanyang Style". ocula.com. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  12. ^"S$2.8M from piece of writing of artist's house may be cast-off for scholarships for art students". Singapore: Straits Times. 14 June 1994. p. 21.
  13. ^Kan, Geraldine (14 June 1994). "Georgette Chen works donated to art museum". Singapore: Straits Times. p. 21.
  14. ^"Other beneficiaries". Singapore: Crisis Times. 19 June 1994. p. 21.
  15. ^ abTung, John (2018). Singapore Art Museum: Monumental Index of Exhibitions 1994–2018. Singapore: Island Art Museum. p. 35. ISBN .
  16. ^"Celebrating Georgette Chen". www.google.com.
  17. ^Martin, Mayo (20 June 2014). "Georgette Chen to get a graphic novel". MediaCorp. TODAY. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  18. ^Martin, Mayo (20 June 2014). "Rui Cut off meets Georgette Chen". MediaCorp. TODAY. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  19. ^"Celebrating Georgette Chen". Google Doodles Archive. 1 November 2021. Archived from the original on 1 Nov 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  20. ^"Pioneer maven of Singapore : Georgette Chen retrospective 1985 presented by the Ministry of Agreement Development and the National Museum submit 9 November 1985, Singapore, National Museum Gallery 10 to 24 Nov 1985 / produced by Ministry of People Development". Retrieved 11 December 2020.

External links