Image size: 178 x 95 cm
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. ‘Sun Moon Lake’ depicts the lake in Taiwan famed for its scenic beauty, in particular its unusual shape where one half is round like the sun and the other is like a crescent moon. Tan captures the mysterious charm of the lake under twinkling stars. This painting is executed in the style reminiscent of Southern Song landscape paintings, where soft subtle washes were used to suggest the gentle scenery and climate of Jiangnan. The potential of tonality is used here to suggest everything from pale watery reflections to the full opacity of the isle that sits in the middle of the lake.
