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Earl Lu

Dr Earl Lu Ming-Teh (b.15 September 1925, Hong Kong d. 2 September 2005, Pisa, Italy), was considered one of Singapore's most prominent art patrons and philanthropists. A medical surgeon by profession, he was a keen art collector and served on several institutional boards to help promote visual arts and art education in Singapore. An artist in his own right, he is known for his paintings of roses.

Early Life
Earl Lu was the only son of four children; his father was a banker and his mother a homemaker. He spent his childhood in several places; Hong Kong, Klang, Malaysia, Shanghai and Singapore. His studies however were interrupted by World War II; he sat for his O levels in India where he and his family had fled by boat, two weeks before Singapore fell to the Japanese.

Career
After completing his medical degree in Australia, Lu went on to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (in England and Edinburgh) and of Singapore's Academy of Medicine. Apart from practising as a general surgeon, he lectured at several universities and volunteered at the St Andrews Mission Hospital for many years. Even at the age of 46 he joined the Singapore Armed Forces to offer help as a field medic.

Quest for Art
Aside from his surgical skills, Lu was known for his love of the visual arts. He was an avid collector of Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics and paintings; he had already started collecting art as a student, although all he could afford then were prints and photographs. His appreciation of fine art started early, as a child living in a home surrounded by Chinese porcelain and brush paintings, which both his father and grandfather had collected. He knew that these antique heirlooms would be his one day, so Lu started painting in his early 30s  to understand and deserve this inheritance. He had Singapore pioneer artist Chen Wen Hsi as his tutor, but only took painting seriously ten years later.

While he was always buying art, Lu was not known to hoard his collections; most of them have been given to various institutions, including the National University of Singapore museums and the Asian Civilisations Museum. Of note is his valuable 200-piece collection of Southeast Asian pottery dating from the 9th-15th centuries, which he donated entirely to the Singapore Art Museum in the 1990s. He also donated key artworks by Singapore's pioneer artists to the La-Salle SIA College of the Arts in 1986. The college named its art gallery the Earl Lu Gallery in honour of him.

Earl Lu was also equally generous with his knowledge of art; as founding chairman of the Singapore Art Museum, it was due to his foresight that the museum began buying many 20th century Southeast Asian works. This collection is now considered the largest in the worlds museums to date. Lu also served on several government committees, dispensing advice on collecting and buying art. For his services to the nation, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1989 and received the Public Service Star Award from the President in 1995.

After retiring from the medical profession in 2003, Lu began painting full-time, joining fellow artists such as the late Brother Joseph McNally on overseas painting trips, and attending life-drawing classes at LaSalle-SIA. He fell ill however on a painting trip to Italy and died of pneumonia, 13-days shy of his 80th birthday.

Throughout his life, Lu did not merely exhibit and sell his paintings to private collectors. He organized charity art exhibitions, helping to raise funds for various medical causes. His rose paintings can be found hanging on the walls of several hospitals, including the National University Hospital, Mount Alvernia Hospital, and even at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, UK.

Education
1925-1938 : Early childhood in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Shanghai.
1938-1942 : Secondary school years at St Andrews School, Singapore.
1942 : GCE O Levels at Bishop Cotton School in Simla, India.
1951 : Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS), University of Sydney.
1956 : Begins painting with mentor Chen Wen Hsi.
1960 : Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), England and Edinburgh.
1962 : Fellow of the Academy of Medicine (FAMS), Singapore.

Medical Career
1950s : Houseman, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia; Medical Officer (Tuberculosis), Chest Hospital in Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia;
Lecturer in Anatomy and Embryology Surgery, University of Sydney, Australia.
1960s : Voluntary surgeon with the St Andrews Mission Hospital.
1980s-90s : Private practice at Mount Elizabeth Hospital
2001-2003 : Consultant surgeon, Earl Lu Clinic

Positions 
Lecturer in Anatomy Department, University of Malaysia, Singapore
Lecturer in Physiology for candidates of the Royal College of Surgeons of Australia (in Singapore)
External examiner in anatomy and physiology at the National University of Singapore
1972-78 : Medical Council member
1972-1991 : Volunteers as an army officer cadet (medical officer with the Singapore Armed Forces); retires as Lieutenant-Colonel
1989 : Justice of the Peace
1990s : United Overseas Bank art committee member
Chairman of Lee Kong Chian Art Museum acquisitions committee
1992-2000 : First chairman of the Singapore Art Museum
1992 - : Member of LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts board of directors; External examiner in art at LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts
1993-1999 : National Heritage Board member
1994-2000 : National Arts Council art adviser
1997 - : Member of the NUS Museums committee
2000 : Chairman of the Istana Art Collection Advisory Committee
2003 : Land Transport Authority Art Review Panel member
Past president and founder member of the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society
Past president of the Society of Chinese Artists
Past president of the National Arthritis Foundation general council
Trustee of the National Theatre Trust

Awards
1985 : The Commendation Medal (Military Gold)
1986 : The LaSalle-SIA Award for Distinguished Service to Arts Education
1995 : The Public Service Star Award from the President of Singapore
1997 : The Montblanc Arts Patronage Award

Selected Exhibitions
1991 : Days of Wine and Roses fund-raiser, at Allan Art Gallery, Singapore
1992 :  Joint exhibition with British transplant surgeon Sir Roy Calne at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. Proceeds were donated to the Cambridge and Singapore liver transplant programmes
1993 : Nee Soon East art fair, Singapore
1994 : Rhythm & Vitality fund-raiser, Empress Place Art Gallery, Singapore
1998 : Solo exhibition at Alliance Francaise, Singapore
2002 : Solo exhibition entitled A Feminine Rose, at Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur
2005 : Posthumous solo exhibition, Earl Lu @80: Beyond the Golden Mean, at Art Forum gallery, Singapore

Family
Wife: Norma Phyllis Yin, a Chinese Australian, who died in 2004
Sons: Mark, Paul, Peter and Stephen
Grandchildren : Shawn, Anne Marie, James, Ellen and Timothy

Quotes
"I have made a lot of money as a doctor...I'm not shy to say this. Of my own paintings I have made nearly nothing. Because I give my paintings away to friends and charity".
"Collecting art is like falling in love - you do it first and rationalise later".
"All collectors are mad. And I've collected with overdraft all my life".
"Nothing is forever. You are the custodian of art, and you pass it on".



Author
Alicia Yeo

References
Almagro, M. and J. Yap. (2002). People at the Peak: The Who's Who of Singapore. Singapore: Magazines Incorporated. 
(Call no.: RSING q920.05957 PEO)

Low, K.T. (2003). Who's Who in Singapore. Singapore: Who's Who Publishing.
(Call no.: RSING 920.05957 WHO)

Medical and Health Services Directory. (2000). Singapore: Nexus Information Sources.
(Call no.: RSING 362.10255957 MHSD-[DIR])

Cheong, C. (1992, November 15). The world, his classroom. The Straits Times.

Ho, J. (1997, March 18). Earl of art if you look at prices, you're looking at wrong things. The Straits Times.

Hong, X. Y. (2005, September 9). Lu's roses live on [Electronic version]. The Straits Times.

Leong, W.K. (2002, May 17). Calligraphy gets a boost [Electric version]. The Straits Times.

Nayar, P. (1999, September 24). Love it, and pass it on [Electronic version]. The Business Times.

Nayar, P. (2005, September 9). Painter and patron of Singapore arts Earl Lu dies, aged 80 [Electronic version]. The Business Times.

Pereira, G. (1989, September 10). Where brush and scalpel meet [Electronic version]. The Straits Times.

Singapore leaders mourn Earl Lu's death [Electronic version]. (2005, September 10) The Straits Times.

Art Forum, Singapore. (n.d). Lu Ming Teh, Earl.  Retrieved December 2, 2006, from http://www.artforum.com.sg/artists_by_country/singapore/earl_lu/biodata.html


Further Readings
Members include prominent men [Electronic version]. (2002, June 21). The Straits Times.

Art Forum, Singapore. (2005).. Earl Lu (1925-2005): How to live life to the fullest. Retrieved September 22, 2005, from http://www.artforum.com.sg/exhibitions/lu/texts05.html

Asian Art Archive. (2005). Dr Earl Lu, founder of the Earl Lu Gallery passes away. Retrieved December 2, 2006, from http://www.aaa.org.hk/newsletter_archive2005.html

Institute of Policy Studies. (c1996-2003).  A celebration of the life of Dr Earl Lu. Thursday, 15 September 2005, 6.30pm at the Glass Hall, Singapore Art Museum. Retrieved December 2, 2006, from http://www.ips.org.sg/pub/sp_tommkoh_Eulogy%20on%20Dr%20Earl%20Lu.pdf

Ipreciation. (n.d.). Earl Lu artist profile. Retrieved September 27, 2005, from http://www.ipreciation.com/xml/artist_detail1.xml?id=00000000101

Lu, E. (1997, September). A surgeon's thoughts on painting. The SMA (Singapore Medical Association) News, 29 (5).
Retrieved September 27, 2005, from http://www.sma.org.sg/sma_news/2905/news/2905N7.htm



The information in this article is valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject.  Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Artists
Artists--Singapore--Biography
Art--Collectors and collecting--Singapore
Surgeons--Singapore--Biography
Arts>>Painting



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