[Not titled] (Still Life)

Untitled (Still Life) (c. 1930s) is a key representation of Nanyang art. Using a palette of complementary brushworks and expressive brushstrokes, the artist incorporated local subject matters such as rambutans, mangosteens, mangos and jackfruits against a backdrop of batik textile in this image.Tchang was an intellectual, a critic and editor, an educator as well as a social “leader” and pivotal member of key art agencies and communities such as Society of Chinese Artists. A critic and activist against the Japanese Occupation of China and subsequently Singapore, Tchang was killed in 1942 during the Sook Ching Operation.