Liu Kang (b. China 1911 – d. Singapore 2004) was an influential pioneering Singapore first-generation artist, art educator and critic who, together with Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Chong Swee and Chen Wen Hsi, birthed the Nanyang style. In 1952, the four of them went on their historic excursion to Bali where they stayed for a few months and were greatly inspired by the sights, sounds, rhythms and colours of Bali, resulting in the birth of the Nanyang style of art.

An instrumental figure in the development of the Singapore art scene, Liu Kang was recognised for his many contributions to art in Singapore. He received the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star) in 1970 and the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Service Medal) in 1996 for his contributions to art in Singapore.

Born in 1911 in Yongchun, China, a six-year-old Liu Kang moved with his family to Muar, Malaya where his father purchased a rubber plantation. Liu attended Chung Hwa School and then Chinese High School in Singapore, and was sent to China to continue his secondary school education in Jinan University Middle School in Shanghai. During the school holidays, Liu attended a two-month long art course at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. Liu was allowed to enrol in the academy, starting his formal art education in the second year of the art programme. At the academy, he learnt much under the mentorship of his principal Liu Haisu.

After graduating from the academy in 1928, he together with Chen Jen Hao, Liu travelled to Paris, France to further his art education at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière from 1929 to 1933. In this new artistically rich environment, he found great inspiration in the works of Gauguin, van Gogh, Matisse and Cézanne. Completing his course at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Liu returned to Shanghai and joined the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts as its youngest professor, teaching Western Painting. In 1937, shortly after marrying Chen Jen Ping, Shanghai fell to the Japanese Invasion and the couple moved to Malaya.

In 1957, Liu held his first solo exhibition at the Victoria Theatre Hall. The works showed the artist in a new phase of maturity, which saw him seeking to represent the experience of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. In 1968, he became a founding member of the Singapore Art Society, and served as its president for 11 years until 1979.

In 2003, Liu Kang donated over 1,000 paintings and sketches, to the Singapore Art Museum. The following year, he passed away at the age of 93 in Singapore. In 2011, his artistic achievements were celebrated with a retrospective exhibition Liu Kang: A Centennial Celebration, organised by the National Art Gallery, Singapore and held at the Singapore Art Museum. The 100 works, sketches, essays and artefacts on display took audiences through the artistic journey of Liu Kang from a young migrant artist to national treasure.