Georgette Chen
Tropical Fruits
c.1969, Singapore
P-0811
NHB Collections
Donated by Georgette Chen
Singapore Art Museum
Image taken from Singapore Collections Online

Many years ago, when I was studying Art History during my secondary school years, Georgette Chen was the one and only female pioneer Singapore artists in the syllabus. As such, it was difficult not to remember her.

Born in 1907 in Zhejiang Province, China, Georgette Chen had her education first in Paris, New York and then Shanghai. In 1954, she settled in Singapore. Since then, she had taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts until her retirement in 1981.

Tropical Fruits by Georgette Chen has a fairly pleasing composition. I find the colours used in Tropical Fruits to be appealing. The placement of the fruits and the choice of colours used somehow give the work an overall balanced and pleasant feeling. The green fruit that is placed somewhat in the centre of the painting somehow draws the viewer’s attention. Georgette Chen is one artist whom I think has a gift in using colours in a visually pleasant and interesting manner.

Did you notice that black outlines were used to highlight the contours of the fruits? The outlines somehow reminds me of the styles and techniques used by some of the Post-Impressionist artists such as Paul Cezanne and Vincent Van Gogh. One can clearly observe signs that demonstrate the extent to which Georgette Chen’s art has been influenced by Western art movements such as Post-Impressionism.

Meantime, the art history aspects aside, it helps to simply enjoy the visual treat offered by Georgette Chen’s Tropical Fruits.

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References:

• Art of Our Time: Unyielding Passion: 8 Masters of Singapore Art by Joyce Fan, Curator, Singapore Art Museum.
• Georgette Chen by Kwok Kian Chow

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I am too old to participate in the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) first national blogging competition – New Kids On The Blog. However, if you are between 7 and 18 years old and you are interested in heritage, you may wish check this out: http://www.yesterday.sg/sgcool

By the way, this post is not intended to be the sample of an ideal blog entry for New Kids on the Blog!