LOT 37
CHEONG SOO PIENG
B. China, 1917 – 1983
Fishing Village, 1960’s
Signed and dated Soo Pieng 60 on lower left
Oil on canvas laid on masonite board
50 x 70 cm
Private Collection, Singapore (formerly UK Collection)
RM 150,000 – 300,000
Cheong Soo Pieng was a pioneer of the Nanyang art style and a key figure in the Singapore modern art scene. He was revered as one of the most prolific artists of his generation and his works are a reflection of his prowess and his creative eye. An incessant innovator who never settled for an established style, Cheong Soo Pieng holds an array of works ranging of many art styles, series and mediums under his repertoire. Even in Fishing Village, he reflects a unique and very distinguished reconfiguration of a wondrous fishing village, incorporating brush strokes that leaves viewers’ feeling captivated and intrigued through his view. In lieu of painting realistic shapes and sceneries that people are so used to seeing, Soo Pieng preferred to depict them based on how he personally viewed the subjects. “Ane tu xi ane”, Soo Pieng reminded his students time and time again. It means ‘this is how things are’. It was his way of saying that one should always look at things in your own, unique way.
A favourite with critics and curators, many have lauded Cheong’s works, describing the artist as a pacesetter and a dominant figure in Singapore’s modern art scene. Cheong was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1962. To recognise his contributions to Singapore’s art history, the former National Museum Art Gallery organised a retrospective exhibition of his works in 1983. Unfortunately, Cheong did not live to see this – four months shy of the exhibition, he died of heart failure on 1 July 1983 at the age of 66. Cheong Soo Pieng’s work is in various national and private collections.