Born in Fuzhou, China, Yeh Chi Wei (1915-1981) is included among a group referred to as Singapore’s “first generation artists”. Graduating from Shanghai’s Xinhua Academy of Fine Arts in 1936, Yeh worked as an art teacher throughout Malaya and Singapore until 1964, while an active member of various art groups. He was especially noted in having started a series of painting trips since 1960 to various Southeast Asian and Asian countries under the Ten Men Group, as well as the Ten Men Art Exhibitions after such trips.A theme Yeh would revisit was that of the maternal and paternal love for a child. Especially during his 1965 visit to Sarawak, Malaysia, Yeh discovered “In whichever family of whatever country, paternal love is all alike; but I believe that in the longhouses love here is deeper than anywhere else.” And “When mother goes to work in the padi fields; father plays with the son.” In his three paintings, dating approximately from the Sarawak tour to 1970 (Accession Nos. P-0757, 1993-01349 and P-0654), Yeh has depicted in diverse stylistic examples various scenarios centred on this theme.
