Frame size: 95 x 68 cm
Born in 1928 in Malaysia, painter and sculptor Wee Kong Chai settled in Singapore in 1952. A graduate of the Singapore Academy of Arts (1957-60), Wee left for Paris in 1964 to study at the École Nationale Supérieure Des Beaux-Arts, returning to Singapore only five years later. The three ‘Nude Study’ paintings are part of a body of work completed by Wee during his time at the École, under the tutelage of Raymond Legueult (1898-1971). The focus of his primarily self-directed studies was the human figure posed nude in a studio. This academic approach to rendering nude studies from life had not been previously available to Wee while an art student in Singapore – then, sketches were made from plaster cast statues. Painting the human form gave Wee much pleasure, establishing a preferred subject that would continue in his sculptures.
