Cheong Soo Pieng

Private Collection, Singapore

The work is in good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling around the edges of the painting, along with gentle networks of craquelures scattered throughout the surface predominantly on the black paints. Examination under ultraviolet light shows a general re-touching of the surface, however this is not visible with the naked eyes. Framed.
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“The history of avant-garde painting is that of a progressive surrender to the resistance of its medium. (Clement Greenberg, 1940) Greenberg’s declaration was shortly before the avant-garde had reached American shores, enabling the likes of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko to drive abstract expressionism as a specific genre in its own right, into the history books.

The main core of Soo Pieng’s abstract works take root from a partial surrender –opening up his experiences as he sojourned around Europe from 1962 to 63, and translating that liberation to his artistic practice. Europe must have seemed so expansive to Soo Pieng, whose journey by boat doubtlessly emphasized this perception. A clarity of expression had emerged from the range of sketches we are told that he aggressively produced … presenting to us a thought process of searching for the primeval … One might even compare this ultimately, to the artistic dimensions of Chinese ink works, where execution comes forth after hours, days and even months of reflection¹."

¹Soo Pieng, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, 2013, p. 42