Tan Choh Tee | |
| (b. 1942, Singaporean) | |
| Tan Choh Tee (b. 1942, Guangdong, China–) is a prominent Singapore artist known for his impressionist-style oil paintings depicting landscapes of Singapore in the 70s to 80s. Tan was awarded the Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts in 2006 for his contributions to the local arts scene. Tan is influenced and inspired by the Impressionism artists. He is known for his series of oil paintings of Chinatown. His other favourite themes are old buildings and fast disappearing landscapes of urban Singapore. Tan was born in China but immigrated to Singapore in 1953 when he was 12 years old. After arriving in Singapore, Tan helped out at his father’s jewellery shop in South Bridge Road. After five years of working in his father’s shop, Tan decided that he had no interest in the business and that he wanted to paint. In 1958, he enrolled himself into the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and studied under renowned artists like Cheong Soo Pieng and Georgette Chen. Tan graduated from NAFA in 1962 and went to work for publisher McGraw-Hill Far East as a book designer. In 1976, Tan resigned from his work to become a full-time artist. In that same year, he won the former Ministry of Culture’s Special Award at the National Day Art Exhibition. In the early 1970s, Teo discovered that many parts of Chinatown were fast vanishing under the government’s redevelopment plans. Tan had special feelings for the place as he has grown up in this area. He felt an urgent need to capture the nostalgia, charm, history and heritage of the Chinatown he loved. He raced against time and bulldozers, trying to capture all the old and disappearing buildings and scenes on canvas before they disappeared forever. In 1976, he resigned from his book designer job – a job which he had held for the last 13 years – to become a professional artist. In 1984, Tan returned to NAFA, his alma mater, to teach. He subsequently went on to attend a masterclass at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China in 1987. In the 1980s and 1990s, Tan started to venture overseas to countries like Thailand, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia and Taiwan to paint. He also went to the United States and Europe on exchange programmes. Tan started to travel to China to paint after 2000s. Tan has held more than 50 solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions in places such as Russia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia. His works have been acquired by prestigious international auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby's. Tan's works are collected by the National Gallery Singapore, National Museum of Singapore, the National Museum of Negara Brunei Darussalam and several other institutions, corporate organisations and many private collectors. | |
Tan Choh Tee in current auction: | |
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