Born in 1943 in Indonesia, Tan migrated to Singapore as a child. After graduating from the Nanyang University in Singapore in 1968, he worked at the French Embassy for 24 years before becoming a full-time artist. In 1985, Tan was awarded the Gold Medal of the French Artist Salon and in 1987, the Singapore Cultural Medallion. In 2003, Tan was honoured with the World Economic Forum Crystal Award and Singapore Meritorious Award. In 1993, Tan became the first Singapore artist to have a private museum dedicated to the display of his extensive oeuvre of artistic and literary works. Tan does not limit himself to a single medium but expresses himself in Chinese ink and colour, oil and acrylic. A self-taught artist, he discovered acrylic painting in the later stage of his artistic life. Through his experimentation with acrylic, he discovered that the medium could freeze flying splashes of waves, realize the ethereal nature of the rainbow and illuminate white light.
