Synopsis

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Wong Keen (b. 1942, Singapore) grew up in a Chinese literati environment and was an acclaimed teenage painter in the early Singapore art scene before leaving at 19 to study at the prestigious Art Students League of New York. He was the first Singaporean and among the earliest of Chinese artists to venture into the flourished post-war American art scene— then the most avant-garde art center in the world. Having spent over fifty years in the US, his outstanding oeuvre—which encompasses oil, ink, acrylic and collage since the 1960s to the present—is a powerful embodiment of the elegant expressivity of Chinese ink wash aesthetics and Western inventive approach towards form and colour.

This richly illustrated monograph includes a detailed biography of the artist, 100 artwork images and 3 essays devoted to Wong Keen’s formal exploration of various styles and themes, particularly the lotus and the nude.