Footnotes

Provenance
Old and New Gallery, Singapore (Artist's Studio)
Acquired directly from the above in the mid 1980s
Dr Seah Pong Pin, renowned Singaporean Dermatologist
Private Collection, Singapore (by descent from the above)

*Please note that this lot is located in Singapore. Buyer is responsible to arrange shipping from present location of lot to buyer's desired destination. To enquire shipping quote, please contact singapore@bonhams.com.


Chen Wen Hsi (b. 1906, Shantou; d. 1991, Singapore) is considered pivotal in Singapore's modern art scene. His landmark trip to Bali in 1952 with fellow pioneering painters Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Chong Swee, and Liu Kang would later act as a catalyst for developing a form of artistic representation distinctive to Southeast Asia—the Nanyang Art Style.

Before settling in Singapore around 1949, Chen was already a recognised artist in southern China. He was trained in the Shanghai Art Academy and Xinhua Academy of Fine Arts in the late 1920s and became equally adept in both Chinese and Western painting techniques. Chen's Chinese paintings created during the 1950s were mainly rendered in the traditional xieyi (写意) style characterised by expressive, freehand brushwork. As his artistic style evolved, he became known for his innovative and creative approach to Chinese ink painting by incorporating Western art elements into his compositions of animals and nature.

Known for his deep love and appreciation of wildlife, Chen excelled in drawing gibbons, birds, squirrels, and fish. He is said to have kept a 'miniature zoo' in his garden in order to closely observe the animals' individual characteristics and movements. Each of the featured pieces by Chen conveys a sense of natural and harmonious balance. Moreover, in Magpies and Plum Blossoms, he combines figurative representation with abstract forms, evidencing the artist's aesthetic evolution progressing from objective and figurative painting into abstraction.