Born in Fujian Province, Liu Kang (1911-2004) received his formal training in Shanghai Academy of Fine Art, where he was exposed to Chinese paintings. In 1928, he went to Paris where he was influenced by art movements such as Fauvism and Post-Impressionism. Not only was he one of Singapore’s pioneer artists, he was also a leading figure in the Society of Chinese Artists and the Singapore Art Society. In 1970, he was awarded the Public Service Star for his contributions in the field of art.A trained oil painter, Liu was also technically competent in pastel, a medium he discovered during the Japanese Occupation. He found that the luminosity of pastel could better depict the human figure and used it for portraits and figure drawing. The dancing girl in this work appears in several other works in the SAM collection.
