LOT 62
THOMAS YEO
B. Singapore, 1936
Rocky Ground
Signed “tyeo” on lower left
RAYA GALLERY label affixed to the reverse
Gouache on rice paper laid on board
80 x 45 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Australia
SOLD
RM 7,890.40
Inspired by Thomas Yeo’s travels and the ever-changing landscape and construction surrounding Singapore, his works are often geometric, abstract and always saturated with colour. With all the dust and noise surrounding him and the place where he lives, it pushed him to create meaningful, deep artworks. Centred around the colour orange, Yeo chose this colour as it “represents the beginning of the day” and it reflects how “construction is the promise of the future”.
“In the future, buildings will shoot for the sky, but whether they are going to bring us happiness or something else is a question mark,” he said, as he depicts in this piece a yet-untouched mountain village.
Born in 1936 in Singapore, Yeo graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1960 and then studied at the Chelsea School of Art and Hammersmith College of Art & Architecture in London. He served as the chairman of the Shell Discovery Art Awards and the president of the Modern Art Society, Singapore.