Georgette Chen

Georgette Chen nee Chang Li Ying (b. 1906, Zejiang Province, China - d. 15 March 1993, Singapore), considered one of a group of artists to have established the Nanyang style of painting. She is most known for her still life and portraits in oils.

Early life
She was born Chang Li Ying probably in Zejiang Province, China in 1906. There is some disagreement about the year and place of her birth, some claim she was born in Paris, and others claim that the year of her birth was 1907. The daughter of a business man, she lived a privileged life, travelling through China, to Paris and New York during her youth. She attended art classes at the Art Students League in New York (1926-1927), and later in Paris she studied art at the Academie Colarossi and Academie Biloul. In 1930, she married her first husband, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Eugene Chen Youren. This was also the year that the first of her art works was accepted for exhibition, at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. Her early work, for example, Still Life with Cut Apple and Orange (circa 1928 - 1930) is characterised by the influence of the late nineteenth century French Impressionists such as Jean Baptiste Corot and Paul Cezanne, with her heavy brush strokes and emphasis on volume and texture.

Key exhibitions
In 1937, her work was exhibited at two major exhibitions in Paris, at the Palace of Painting as part of the Paris World Fair, and at the Women Painters Exhibition. She lived mostly in Shanghai in the 1940s, and held exhibitions there during this time. In the 1930s and 1940s she produced many still life paintings and portraits of Eugene Chen. The portraits of her husband were executed in a style reminiscent of the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh. During the Sino-Japanese invasion, the couple was imprisoned and soon after the end of the war, Eugene Chen passed away in 1944.

In 1949, she moved back to Paris with her second husband, Dr Ho Yung Chi, where she exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and the Galerie La Licorne. In 1951, they moved to Penang, and in 1953 she moved to Singapore, having divorced Dr Ho. She exhibited her work at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (1953) and the Singapore Art Society (1954).

Later works
She began teaching art part-time at Nanyang Academy of Fine Art in 1954, and continued until 1980. Georgette Chen's paintings from 1951 onwards display her maturity as an artist. Her Western-style training with her use of local subject matter placed her as a 'Nanyang Style' artist, a style that was characterised by its hybrid art form incorporating Asian themes and Western ideas and techniques.

The Mosque in Kuala Lumpur (1957) and Singapore Waterfront (1958) show her skilled draughtsmanship, compositional mastery and sensitivity to the atmospheres and rhythms of the scene using a variety of brushstroke techniques and colour.

In 1982, Georgette Chen was awarded the Singapore Cultural Medallion. She died at Mount Alvernia Hospital after a long illness in 1993.



Author
Ruth Creamer



References 
Chia, J. (1997). Georgette Chen. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum.
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 CHI)

Kwok, K. C. (1996). Channels and confluences: A History of Singapore art (pp. 64-68). Singapore: Singapore Art Museum.
(Call no.: SING 709.5957 KWO)

Ministry of Community Development and the National Museum, Singapore. (1985). Georgette Chen retrospective. Singapore: National Museum.
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 CHE)

Singapore artist directory (p. 40). (1993). Singapore: Empress Place Museum.
(Call no.: SING 709.59570922 SAD)

Sabapathy, T. K. (1993, March 19). First lady of art. The Straits Times, Life!, p. 8.


Further Readings
Ministry of Community Development and Bizcom Visual Services. (1987). Chen Wen Hsi [and] Georgette Chen [Videotape]. Singapore: Ministry of Community Development.
(Call no.: RAV 759.95957 CHE)

Kwok Kian Chow. (n.d.). Georgette Chen.  Retrieved January 12, 2005, from National University of Singapore, University Scholars Programme Web site: www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/arts/painters/channel/13.html 



The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we can 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>>Cultural Medallion Recipients
Chen, Georgette, 1907-1993--Biography
Award winners--Singapore--Biography
Women painters--Singapore--Biography
Artists--Singapore--Biography
Arts>>Painting>>Oil painting

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