Cheong Soo Pieng

Private Collection, Singapore

This work is in very good overall condition as viewed and the paint layers are healthy overall. There is a very small loss to blue pigment at upper edge, along with an associated horizontal crack to the pigment. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals areas of restoration at the edges of the work, along with a few sporadic spots of restoration at the left quadrants and at areas of thinner impasto. Framed.
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Perhaps one of the most prolific Singaporean artists, Cheong Soo Pieng’s career is a reflection of his lifelong study of Western and Eastern art history, and appropriating these aesthetics and traditions into his own unique creative vision. He is celebrated as much for the figurative paintings that lean towards Primitive motifs, as well as for the Abstract Expressionist works that were an academic analysis of shapes and colours. He was part of the original Nanyang group of artists who redefined Singapore’s artistic heritage, and had a substantial role in cultivating the country’s presence on the art world stage. 

Cheong Soo Pieng’s oeuvre provides an insightful look into the emergence of Singaporean  modern art, as well as revealing the identity of a man who played a large part in its development. Together with Chen Wen Hsi, Georgette Chen, and Chen Chong Swee, to name a few, the artist became seen as one of the pioneering artists of the Nanyang art movement. Originally born in Fujian province in China, the artist soon relocated to Shanghai in 1936. However due to the civil unrest between the Communist Party and National Party that took place after the Pacific war, ten years later he decided to move to Singapore and settled down.  Once there Cheong Soo Pieng quickly established himself as a teacher at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. The artworks created from his time in Singapore are reflective of the country’s early immigrants and their search for identity, as well as feelings of displacement, as they paved a future for themselves in a new environment. 

Cheong Soo Pieng was already a trained classical Chinese artist prior to moving to Singapore. However his friendships with other Chinese immigrants had a direct influence on his oeuvre. These individuals “…painted what they saw, and somehow what they painted also became the emblems or icons representative of the local Nanyang style…from the perspective of the Chinese diaspora, [there was] ongoing tension between longing for the past, with attempts at rooting [themselves] in the present”¹.

This sense of restlessness was expressed through the artist’s many travels throughout his lifetime. In 1952 along with other pioneering artists, he went to Bali for the first time. The artist’s experience with the Indonesian landscape and culture would feature prominently within his paintings from the 1950s onwards. However it was in the early sixties when he visited Europe to participate in an exhibition at Frost & Reed Gallery in London that would have a transformative impact on the direction of his artistic vision. He actively embraced Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, and Fauvism as key elements in future paintings. It should be noted that Cheong Soo Pieng believed “…artistic expression was seen as an important part of cross border communication”², and the artist remained faithful to this philosophy throughout his lifetime.

The present works entitled Abstract Composition and Composition, respectively, were created shortly after his departure from Europe. Both paintings may be seen as academic studies on abstraction, the artist playing with mixed media to create a sense of sculptural depth amidst the ambiguous formation of shapes and colours that occupy the compositions. Though these works are a sharp divorce from his figurative paintings that depicted Balinese women, the current paintings share commonalities in the textures used, as well as the attention to colours and geometrical details. Therefore with the freedom that Abstract Expressionism allowed the artist, he sought to capture the essence of the landscape and its physical energy within the narratives that are relatively absent of recognisable forms and landmarks.

Cheong Soo Pieng’s appropriation and keen understanding of Western art history are highlighted in the featured artworks. Inspired by Paul Klee and Picasso, these European artists’ aesthetics can also be found in Abstract Composition and Composition. However his Asian heritage continued to be known, for the presence of the circular lines and squiggles in Abstract Composition are reminiscent of Oracle Bones that are found in China. By instinctively pairing his Asian ancestry with the newfound knowledge of Western art traditions, Cheong Soo Pieng’s foray into Abstract Art reveals an interesting narrative of his own experiences an immigrant striving to let go of the past.

The artist Paul Klee once said, “But our own instinct drives us downward, deep down to the primal source. Whatever emerges from this activity, call it what you will, dream, idea, fantasy, should be taken quite seriously if it combines with proper pictorial elements and is given form. Then curiosities become realities, realities of art, which add something more to life than it usually seems to have. For then we no longer have things seen and reproduced with more or less display of temperament, but we have visionary experiences made visible”³. This sentiment may be equally shared by Cheong Soo Pieng, for it is expressed eloquently in the paintings Abstract Composition and Composition.

Within Abstract Composition the artist has created a landscape that appears to be floating, the two round formations parallel to each other. The seemingly solid masses allude to islands that are enveloped by bodies of water. Cheong Soo Pieng’s abstract landscapes often did not yield any clues of locale or place in time, and yet it can be perceived that this particular painting may be the natural environment, for the shapes and colours engage with the audience on an organic level of understanding. His paintings of similar nature created during the sixties were seen as “cryptic and hermetic”⁴. The artist frequently favoured round motifs within the narratives, shapes suggestive of the moon or sun, symbols from nature that instilled a sense of quietude in the paintings. In Abstract Composition the artist has also included a circular shape that governs the centre of the painting, acting as the focal point to ground the audience in the enigmatic setting. 

In contrast, Composition does not adhere to naturalistic images, for in this work it seems as if the artist is deliberately creating an abstract painting for the sheer force of wanting to do so. Amidst the frenzied brushstrokes and vibrant additions of the colours blue, yellow, and hints of red, the painting appears as a disjointed conversation of shapes, varied aesthetics, and random outbursts of black paint to unify the composition together. The artist introduces in the painting with “…the force of the unknown forms, the pure lines [that create] a sense of movement, while the planes of colour indicate a sense of stillness [and] the dark portions seem to indicate a depth while the unvaried shades indicate the nearest possible surface”⁵. 

It may be implied that the paintings created during this period “blended the notion of optical accuracies (mimetic information) and psychological ambiguities [and dispensed] with the realities from visual observation, [as seen] through juxtaposition of certain objects in space”⁶. Therefore Cheong Soo Pieng sought to recreate the experiences from his travels into abstract landscape paintings that stand out in his oeuvre for their ambitious pairing of differing aesthetics and mediums. Abstract Composition and Composition both reflect his want to experiment with the Western abstract art tradition, and apply these principles into an Eastern narrative. Thus the paintings may be seen as a collective representation of Cheong Soo Pieng as a Chinese immigrant who forged a new art movement and ultimately found his self-identity in the process. 

¹ Ed. Daniel Tham, A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s to 1970s: Dialogues Between Szan Tan and Daniel Tham, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 2013, pg. 23.

² Yeo Weiwei, Cheong Soo Pieng: Visions of Southeast Asia, The National Art Gallery, Singapore (Singapore), 2010, pg. 8.

³ E., Protter, Painters on Painting, Dover Publications, USA, 1997, pg. 197.

⁴ Refer to 2, pg. 21.

⁵ Refer to 2, pg. 22.

⁶ Refer to 2, pg. 24.