Image size: H39.1 x W30.8 cm (Mount)
Cheong Soo Pieng is regarded as a pivotal figure in Singapore’s modern art development. Born in Xiamen (Amoy), China in 1914, he was part of a group of artists that attempted to articulate a style identifiable and pertinent to post-war Singapore, then known collectively with Malaysia, as Malaya. This style, later crystallized as the Nanyang Style, provided a foundation upon which future generations of artists learned and expanded on. A key element of the Nanyang Style was the synthesis of Chinese pictorial elements and the diverse formalistic qualities from the School of Paris.‘Untitled) Woman with Umbrella’ depicts a few figures dressed in ‘baju kurung’ (traditional Malay outfit). Cheong’s quest to create a new representation of the local landscape and its communities, brought him to many places and meetings with other races.
