Details
Acrylic on canvas
87 x 153cm
2007
Unframed
Courtesy of the family of the artist
About
As a fledgling young artist in the 1950s, Aw Tee Hong was immersed in a learning environment characterised by the emergence of what would become known as the Nanyang style of painting. Developing and honing his artistic skills in the company of pioneer Nanyang Style painters such as Cheong Soo Pieng and Chen Wen Hsi, Aw unsurprisingly found both impetus and inspiration to also develop and define his own distinctive Nanyang Style repertoire, recognised most visibly by his bold use of vibrant hues and colours.
Nanyang Style figurines naturally became a salient and well-cherished subject matter for many of Aw Tee Hong’s best works, as is the case in "Bird Watching." Within the acrylic masterpiece "Bird Watching," Aw masterfully portrayed indigenous individuals and their way of life with a palpable sense of enthusiasm, evident through the robust saturation of hues. The confident, bold lines defining the human figures harmonised seamlessly with the intricate attention to detail lavished upon their embellishments.
Following his passing in 2021, Aw Tee Hong’s family has been working on arrangements to best safeguard his artistic legacy. To date, "Bird Watching" is the only art piece that his family has released for sale and is doing so to support fundraising for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, which is Aw’s beloved alma mater.
About Aw Tee Hong
Schooled in the best artistic traditions both in Singapore and in Beijing, the late Aw Tee Hong was renowned for his exceptional oil paintings, particularly his ability to capture the essence of mood and light within the landscapes and the human scenes he portrayed on his canvases. Aw has left a rich body of work that reflects his lifelong dedication to documenting the evolving human and urban landscape of Singapore. Through his art, he has immortalised not just our cityscapes and village scenes, but also our ways of life within, as these unfolded over the decades of our nation-building.
Beyond being renowned for his mastery of brushes and pigments, Aw is also well-recognised for his artistic versatility and skills in three-dimensional works. In his long and productive artistic journey, he has deftly wielded clay, bronze, fibreglass, polymarble, and wood to produce an enviable collection of grand-scale sculptures and wall murals that continue to occupy pride of place at major public and civic spaces such as Raffles Place and Singapore River, enriching our urban landscape with his artistic creativity and verve.