Cheong Soo Pieng

(1917-1983)

Mother and Child

Footnotes

Provenance
Merlin Gallery, Singapore
Acquired directly from the above in the mid 1980s
Dr Seah Pong Pin, renowned Singaporean Dermatologist
Private Collection, Singapore (by descent from the above)

*Please note that this lot is located in Singapore. Buyer is responsible to arrange shipping from present location of lot to buyer's desired destination. To enquire shipping quote, please contact [email protected].


Of course I do not search for it, (a style) consciously or create it deliberately. I doubt any artist does. But it is there. It is a way of bringing order and intelligence to what an artist is doing.

—Cheong Soo Pieng

Hailed as one of the pillars of the Nanyang school of painting, Cheong Soo Pieng stands out for his ceaseless experimentation and mastery of an eclectic range of painting techniques. Here was an artist who was unafraid to step out of his comfort zone yet still honoured and stayed true to his traditional roots. Born in Xiamen, China, after studying at the Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts and the Xin Hua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai, he arrived in Singapore at the age of 29 in late 1946 to take up a teaching position at NAFA on the recommendation of his teacher, Lim Hak Tai.

A kaleidoscope of local themes—such as the enchanting landscapes, tropical environments, and the peoples of rural Malaya and Southeast Asia—were embraced and celebrated by Soo Pieng in his art. He travelled avidly across Southeast Asia and Europe in search of creative inspiration. These cross-cultural encounters were essential ingredients to his evolving artistic practice, which aimed at interweaving and mediating a myriad of aesthetic elements and experiences.

Compositions such as Resting under a Tree (Lot 3) and Mother and Child (Lot 4) are sensitive examples of Soo Pieng's exploration and focus on bucolic themes. Blending his Chinese artistic roots with additional elements learned from Western artistic traditions, and inspired by the people and culture of Southeast Asia, Soo Pieng created a distinctive and singular style that is completely original and unique, establishing him as one of the most exceptional and pioneering Asian artists of the 20th century.

The stylised Madonna and Child appear set against a dappled background of foliage and trees. The image is striking for its frontal magnified portraiture focusing on the subject's delicate features and the child resting against her, unlike most of the figures in Soo Pieng's work, depicted in profile and often compared to wayang kulit shadow puppets. Soo Pieng delicately delineates the figures against their natural setting through the use of accentuated and clearly defined compositional lines. The branches in the forested background curve downwards to cradle the two figures, a stylistic element reminiscent of his ink paintings that symbolically and pictorially echo the gesture of the mother tenderly cradling her baby. By applying Chinese academic compositional theory to a totally different subject matter and medium, Soo Pieng pushes the established boundaries to develop and evolve his own distinctive style.

Soo Pieng travelled to Sabah and Sarawak, with two documented trips in 1959 and 1961. The present lot depicting a Maternity would have been inspired by a memory from one of his travels. The mother figure wears a traditional Dayak sun hat adorned with hornbill feathers, and her earlobes are elongated by heavy weighted earrings. Around her neck is a distinctive red pendant known as a 'buah kabo' amulet, native to the Kayan tribe of Borneo. As the only touch of red, it contrasts sharply with the pale golden hues that dominate the rest of the work. She wears a shawl over her shoulders and a dark brown sarong highlighted with gold—the outline of the batik motifs further accentuated by the artists' technique of scratching into the paint layers while still wet.

Painted on silk and dated to 1981, this lyrical and elegant work by Cheong Soo Pieng differentiates itself from his earlier works by the aesthetic maturation of Chinese ink effects achieved through the innovative and masterful use of thin washes of oil paint. Soo Pieng gracefully captures the tender relationship between a Kayan Dayak mother and child and creates a contemplative visual experience for the viewer. Commanding in both technique and spirit, this painting gives an intimate picture of the tender age-old subject of Maternity revisited through a uniquely Southeast Asian perspective.