CHEONG Soo Pieng (1917-1983), Attributed to Malay... Lot 153

CHEONG Soo Pieng (1917-1983), Attributed to Malay woman, 1975 Oil on canvas Signed on the right side Signed and dated on the back 101 x 81 cm Exhibition : Exhibited by Seah Kim Joo, Singaporean modern and contemporary Asian painter born in 1939, at his gallery "Mandarin galleries" (label on back). Provenance : - In the same family for over 30 years Born in China in 1917, Cheong Soo Pieng attended the Xinhua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai. In 1942, Cheong organized his first solo exhibition of watercolors. In 1945, he left China for Hong Kong and, at the end of 1946, settled in Singapore, where he taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts for twenty years. In 1951, Cheong Soo Pieng, along with five other artists, was invited to present his work in England. The exhibition was officially opened by the Duchess of Kent. In 1955, he took part in an exhibition at the Imperial Institute in London. His early paintings of the 1950s and 1960s are empathetic, introspective depictions of the people, landscapes and customs of Singapore and the wider region of Southeast Asia. In 1962-63, Cheong traveled through Europe, visiting London, Scotland, Luxembourg, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Rome and Munich. During this European sojourn, he exhibited in London, Munich and Oxford. This trip enabled Cheong to rethink the relationship between his art and ethnicity. On his return, he embarked on a period of lively discovery, achieving new stylistic innovations in oils and inks. Cheong then expanded his visual vocabulary with new media, including batik, collage, cloisonné, metalwork and found materials, updating his modernist paintings to dialogue with a new generation of artists. Solo exhibitions are multiplying, in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney... The late 1970s saw a return to Cheong's earlier practice, concentrating on Southeast Asian subjects, particularly Malaysia and Bali. Cheong stylized these figures, depicting them with long, exaggerated limbs and almond-shaped eyes, drawing inspiration from both wayang kulit puppets and modernist artists such as Amedeo Modigliani and Alberto Giacometti. This would become Cheong's most emblematic series. Cheong died suddenly in 1983 of heart failure, bringing an abrupt end to a career in full development. Today, his legacy is secure, and his art and practice remain a cornerstone of Singapore's art history. He is internationally recognized as one of Singapore's most important pioneering artists.