Lot 1024
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CHEONG SOO PIENG | (i) Untitled (Chinese Woman)(ii) Untitled

Estimate
1,000,000 - 1,800,000 HKD
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Description

  • Cheong Soo Pieng
  • (i) Untitled (Chinese Woman)(ii) Untitled
  • (i) signed in Chinese; signed and dated 1965 on the reverse(ii) signed in Chinese; signed and dated 1969 on the reverse
  • (i) oil on canvas(ii) mixed media and metal
  • (i) 81 1/2  by 101 1/2  cm; 32 by 40 in.(ii) 96 by 76 1/2  cm; 37 3/4  by 30 1/4  in.

Provenance

Private Collection, Singapore 

Exhibited

Soo Pieng: Drawings, THEO Arts Professionals, 23 June - 22 July, 2017, Artspace@Helutrans, Singapore 

Literature

(i) (ii) Seng Yu Jin and Grace Ting, Cheong Soo Pieng: Visions of Southeast Asia, The National Art Gallery, Singapore, 2010, p. 188 and 254, color illustration
(i) Ho Sou Ping and Ma Peiyi, The Story of Cheong Soo Pieng, Singapore, 2015, p. 98, color illustration

Condition

(i) This work is in good overall condition as viewed. There is evidence of light wear and some losses along the edges of the work. There is craquelure on the paint surface, but this is stable and consistent with the age of the work. All other inconsistencies are consistent with the artist's working method. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals small and sporadic spots of restoration scattered across the surface of the work and one vertical line (3 cm) of restoration along the upper edge on the right side of the work. Framed. (ii) This work is in good overall condition as viewed. There is evidence of light wear along the edges of the burlap fabric but this is inherent to the nature of the medium. All other inconsistencies are consistent with the artist working method and the nature of the medium. Framed.
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Catalogue Note

“As Asian civilisations have been reborn in the last half century, so must Asian artists reflect, and inspire this rebirth. New things must be said, and a new pictorial language found in which to say them. If the work of Cheong Soo Pieng sometimes looks more Western than Oriental, more modern than traditional, that is because it is a true reflection of the feelings and aspirations of the community to which he belongs…
- Sullivan, M., Cheong Soo Pieng, Straits Commercial Art, Singapore, 1956, p. 35 Radiating visions of modern beauty and commanding allure, Untitled (Chinese Woman) and Untitled unequivocally embody the very essence of Cheong Soo Pieng’s figural practice, one that was aesthetically bold and formidably thoughtful.  This season, two remarkable exemplars of Soo Pieng’s unmatched artistic versatility are paired together to offer a striking yet kindred comparison. These elegant and charismatic works showcase the pioneer’s incredible ability to master a plethora of techniques across mediums with profound artistry.

Renowned for his formative role in the Singapore art scene, Soo Pieng developed a unique style that was truly ahead of his time. His daring and technical dexterity, impressively projected upon these two representations of the modern Chinese woman, place him amongst the leading voices in Southeast Asia. Both Untitled (Chinese Woman) and Untitled show a poised lady lounging comfortably on chair; the former is an oil painting and the latter is a metal relief work. They boldly encapsulate the audacious innovations of the artist’s celebrated corpus of figurative paintings.

Completed only a few years apart, these distinct expressions of the same image are complementary and immensely revealing of Soo Pieng’s artistic lexicon.  Each work exemplifies the strengths of the artist’s approach – the clarity of line, distilling of elegant forms, harmony of colours and voracious appetite for experimentation. Together, they present viewers with an ideal study of Soo Pieng’s desire to constantly evolve his practice – offering a thrilling and deeply profound visual experience.

 Cheong Soo Pieng was a highly influential figure in the modern art movement in Singapore. After receiving formal training, the Xiamen-born artist taught at the Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts, before moving to Singapore in 1946. The artist initiated an intensive study of the culture and artistic traditions of Southeast Asia, often weaving these regional threads with certain techniques from his classical Chinese training into his works. Indeed such notions are core aspects of the Nanyang School Movement, in which Soo Pieng played an irreplaceable role.

Throughout his remarkable career, Soo Pieng has demonstrated both a profound passion for the great avant-garde traditions of the past and a creative vision of his own, category-defying artistic practice. While the artist’s visual idioms aren’t strictly defined chronologically, the 1960s was marked by fervent experimentation as he forayed into lyrical abstraction and sculpture. Untitled (Chinese Woman) and Untitled reveal how these explorations informed his figurative style and how he began to assemble his personal iconography.  Each work stands as an eloquent tribute to Chinese traditions and showcases the extraordinary finesse of Soo Pieng’s formal approach.

Striking demonstrations of an artist wholly dedicated to his craft, these two works are executed with impressive attention to detail. Comparisons between both pieces explicate the workings of a mind that was constantly reviewing and reflecting. Several years after completing 1965 oil painting, Soo Pieng revisited the same subject matter in 1969, this time through a new medium. He had just participated in the First Sculpture Exhibition in 1967, a pivotal event in Singapore’s art history. The country’s rapid industrialization made available everyday industrial materials to artists such as Soo Pieng, who employed them in his metal relief works. Aiming to push the physical boundaries of two-dimensional planes, Soo Pieng played with the varying language of the materials to create pieces such as Untitled (1969).

These enduring portraits of Chinese women are significant examples of Soo Pieng’s investigation of the female figure. Personifying confident ease and charismatic beauty, the woman’s elegant frame and composure exude an air of poise. Executed in 1965, Untitled (Chinese Woman) is a fresh take on the modern Singaporean muse and poignantly epitomizes the spirit of Soo Pieng’s style. Lounging comfortably on a high armchair, the lady has one hand propped under her chin, and the other resting along the top of the chair’s backing. Leaning at an angle, she has slipped off her shoes and allowed her feet to gingerly balance on the edge of her seat. Likely in the comfort of her own home, she carries herself with grace and her posture is one of complete leisure, lending the work a sense of spontaneity. One sees her less as a sitter, but a woman deep in contemplation or relaxing after a long day.

The fact that Soo Pieng used the same striking pose four years later in Untitled (1969) is suggestive of the artist’s personal interest in this particular composition. The use of metal to construct the lines of the figure reinforces the angularity of Soo Pieng’s figurative approach. Importantly, the natures of the different materials highlight compelling nuances within each work. While the oil painting reveals the softness in Soo Pieng’s brushwork, as seen in the gentle folds of her loose pants and qi pao style top, the metal relief cultivates a sharpness and dynamism in the woman’s posture.

Captivating and iconic, the two works include some of the most salient features of Soo Pieng’s stylized figures while demonstrating his flair for composing color. The female subject’s limbs are elongated while her hands and feet are rendered in thin outlines. These sleek silhouettes as well as the simplified facial features emphasize the woman’s form with great efficiency. In both pieces, the simple compositions center the figure as the object of our gaze; while the classic Chinese style furniture represent elements of grandeur. In the later Untitled work, the artist adds a new element – decorative Chinese characters crown the woman’s head. This reference to Chinese calligraphy not only reflects Soo Pieng’s long standing interest in hieroglyphics, but also adds another layer of meaning to the piece.

Juxtaposing a combination of bright and muted tones, Soo Pieng delivers a balanced color palette. In Untitled (Chinese Woman), the figure’s light blue and lilac clothes compliment her fair complexion. The red scarf draped on the chair and golden yellow vase displayed on the side table lend vibrancy to an otherwise muted background. On the other hand, by thoughtfully employing various materials and surfaces to create different tones of bronze, grey and brown, Soo Pieng elevates Untitled (1969) from an industrial collage to a gilded mosaic.

In examining these two distinct yet connected pieces, Soo Pieng’s virtuosity across mediums becomes clear. While Untitled (Chinese Woman) embodies the hallmarks of the artist’s signature painting style, Untitled (1969) showcases his ability to grasp the character of each material used, maneuvering them to solve formalistic questions. Metal, as a less flexible medium, requires experimentation to create the shapes, maximize forms and reflective effects one desired. In the present work, the metal sheets that were used as the fabric of the woman’s blouse concave into folds, creating shadows that mimic the same textures as real clothing. Soo Pieng also plays with multiple textures within a single painting, using short wires to develop thickness in the woman’s hair and arranging cross sections of metal tubes in a pattern on the cloth draped over the arm of the chair.

Furthermore, the artist alters the sense of perspective in the 1969 piece. In contrast to Untitled (Chinese Woman), where the space is clearly defined, Untitled (1969) is in portrait orientation, the background “flattened” into a decorative motif of small bronze-like tiles, gauze and burlap. Existing in a real, physical space, Untitled (1969) serves to questions our assumptions about two-dimensional works, assembling a lively and dynamic counterpart to its earlier expression.

By constantly introducing new techniques and idioms into his repertoire, Cheong Soo Pieng proves not only his commanding versatility but also his pioneering spirit. His significance as a formative member of the Singapore modern art scene cannot be understated, as he led a movement that would transform the way people came to appreciate the avant-garde and cultures of the region. When placed beside each other, Untitled (Chinese Woman) (1965) and Untitled (1969) are important records of Soo Pieng’s unwavering commitment to his creative dialogue and the heights he reached because of his constant reflections. The artist’s innovations and breakthroughs inspired his contemporaries and continue to do so through his indelible legacy.