Liu Kang (b. 1 April 1911, Yongchun, Fujian, China1–d. 1 June 2004, Singapore2), also known as Liu Kai, was a pioneer oil painter who was key in establishing a local style in Singapore’s visual arts. As a renowned artist, Liu Kang not only produced a wide portfolio of works but also, through his various positions in art schools, influenced the next generation of artists and painters in Singapore.3
Early life
Born in the year the Chinese Qing dynasty fell, Liu spent his early years in Malaya, where his father worked as a rubber merchant. A mispronunciation by his principal at Muar Primary School led to his name being changed from Liu Kai to Liu Kang. He continued his secondary school education in China’s Jinan University Middle School in 1926. During the school holidays, he took art classes at the Shanghai College of Fine Arts (later known as the Xinhua Art Academy). While he was residing with his good friend, the painter Chen Jen Hao, Liu became acquainted and fell in love with Jen Hao’s sister, Chen Jen Pen (also spelt Chen Jen Ping), who later became his wife.4
Shanghai was strongly influenced by Western arts during the 1920s, the time Liu was studying art there. Liu continued his art education in Paris, France, at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière from 1929 to 1933. There he was drawn to postimpressionists such as Paul Cézanne, Paul Gaugin and Vincent Van Gogh, masters whose works influenced his own.5
World War II
Liu moved to Muar when the Japanese invaded China in 1937 and then later came to Singapore. When Japan invaded Singapore in 1942, Liu and his family fled back to Muar, leaving behind more than 200 paintings. However, all the paintings had disappeared when he returned after the war.6 Liu witnessed many war atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers. In 1946, after the war had ended, he published sketches of Japanese brutality on Asians in a multivolume work entitled Chop Suey.7 The series was published in both English and Chinese, and in 1991 was translated into Japanese.8 Only limited copies of the original Chop Suey can be found as a complete set.9
Nanyang style
Having received his art education from the best of both hemispheres, Liu translated these influences and incorporated local Southeast Asian flavours into his work to create the distinct Nanyang style. This style, attributed to Singapore’s pioneer painters, was first seen in the works of Liu and fellow painters Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee and Cheong Soo Pieng upon their return from a study-cum-painting trip in Bali in 1952. Some of his well-known paintings from this era include: “Artist and Model” (1954), “Batik Workers” (1954) and “Balinese Girl in Red Sarong” (undated).10
Besides his works, Liu continued to influence the next generation of artists through his leadership in the Association of Chinese Artists of Singapore and the Singapore Art Society. In addition to renowned artists, some of his students include personalities such as Singapore’s first elected president, Ong Teng Cheong.11
Despite eye problems and a failed cataract transplant in 1986, Liu Kang continued to paint and exhibit his works.12 His most significant exhibition prior to his death was held in China in November 2000, after having postponed it for more than a decade due to the Tiananmen incident in 1989.13 Liu’s works have been exhibited in Singapore and overseas including France, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the United States.14
Awards
1970: Public Service Star
1985: Singapore Art Society Service Award; Society of Chinese Artists Service Award
1993: ASEAN Creative Award, Brunei
1996: Meritorious Service Medal15
Appointments
1946–1958: President, Society of Chinese Artists, Singapore16
1968–1979: President, Singapore Art Society17
Chairman, National Day Art Exhibition Working Committee
Chairman, Advisory Committee on Visual Arts18
Timeline
1917–1926: Spends childhood years in Muar, Malaya.
1926–1928: Studies at the Xinhua Art Academy, Shanghai, China.
1928–1933: Continues his art studies at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.
1933–1937: Becomes professor of western painting at Shanghai College of Fine Arts.19
1937: Weds Chen Jen Pen in Shanghai.20
1937–1945: The couple move to Muar when the Japanese invades Shanghai three months after their wedding.21 The couple then arrive in Singapore, where Liu teaches art at Nan Chiao Teachers’ Training College Singapore and Chung Cheng High School.22 When the Japanese forces attack Singapore, they return to Muar and there Liu opens a coffeeshop with his brother. They go back to Singapore to escape Japanese persecution.23
1946: Multivolume illustrated work, Chop Suey, about atrocities during the Japanese Occupation, is published.
1957: First solo exhibition held in Singapore.24
1968: Founding member of the Singapore Art Society and becomes its president for 10 consecutive years.25
1981: Liu Kang Retrospective, National Museum, Singapore – one of his largest local exhibitions with 220 artworks displayed.26
1983: Liu Kang Exhibition Tour in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan in Taiwan before proceeding to Hong Kong.27
1989: Paintings by Liu Kang exhibition, National Museum Art Gallery.28
1997: Liu Kang at 87 exhibition, Singapore Art Museum.
1998: Liu Kang at 88 exhibition, Singapore Soka Association,29 including 72 works of his family members.30
2000: First solo exhibition in Beijing, China.31
2003: Liu Kang donates all his works to the Singapore Art Museum.32
2004: Liu Kang passes away of natural causes.33
Family
Wife: Chen Jen Pen.34 Liu painted six portraits of her between 1927 and 1992, with the earliest painted before they married.35
Sons: Liu Thai Ker, former chief of Housing and Development Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority;36 Liu Hong; Liu Liang; and Liu Kah Teck.37
Daughter: Liu Tow Sen 38
Authors
Bonny Tan & Ruth Creamer
References
1. Leo Suryadinata, ed., Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: A Biographical Dictionary (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012), 685. (Call no. RSING 959.004951 SOU)
2. Foong Woei Wan, “Artist Liu Kang, 93, Dies,” Straits Times, 2 June 2004, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
3. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 685.
4. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 685; “The Portraits of My Love,” Straits Times, 13 December 1998, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
5. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 685; “Untitled,” Straits Times, 3 February 1993, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
6. Chong Wing Hong, “Cartoons on a Reign of Terror,” Straits Times, 23 September 1986, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
7. Liu Kang, Chop Suey (Singapore: Ngai Seong Press, 1946). (microfilm NL7748)
8. “Shocking Revelations,” Straits Times, 6 April 1991, 9. (From NewspaperSG)
9. Chong, “Cartoons on a Reign of Terror.”
10. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 685–86.
11. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 686; Eliza Teoh, “Happy Reunion as Liu Kang Gets His Award,” Straits Times, 9 November 1996, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
12. T. Sasitharan, “Coloured By Time,” Straits Times, 21 July 1989, 2; “Life Is Still a Big Canvas for Liu Kang, 87,” Straits Times, 26 September 1997, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
13. “Beijing Show, Finally,” Straits Times, 31 March 2000, 102. (From NewspaperSG)
14. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 686.
15. “Liu Kang: Milestones,” Straits Times, 31 March 2000, 103; Teoh, “Happy Reunion as Liu Kang Gets His Award.”
16. “Liu Kang: Milestones.”
17. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 686.
18. “Untitled.”
19. “Through the Eyes of an Artist,” Business Times, 8 November 1997, 20; “At 92, With Nature and Nudes,” Today, 20 July 2000, 21. (From NewspaperSG)
20. “Liu Kang: Milestones.”
21. Sasitharan, “Coloured By Time”; Braema Mathi, “The Portraits of My Love,” Straits Times, 13 December 1998, 3 (From NewspaperSG); Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 686.
22. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 686.
23. “Liu Kang,” TributeSG., accessed 7 July 2016; Chua Bee Hua, “Art Skill Saved Author’s Life,” New Paper, 28 March 1991, 6; “Through the Eyes of an Artist.”
24. “Liu Kang: Milestones.”
25. “Model Artist,” Straits Times, 2 June 2004, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
26. “Liu Kang: Milestones”; Liu Kang Retrospective (Singapore: Ministry of Culture and National Museum, 1981). (Call no. RCLOS 759.95957 LIU)
27. “Liu Kang: Milestones.”
28. Sasitharan, “Coloured By Time.”
29. “Liu Kang: Milestones.”
30. Liu Kang, Liu Kang at 88 (Singapore: Singapore Soka Association, 1998). (Call no. RSING 759.95957 LIU)
31. Parvathi Nayar, “Exhibition of Liu Kong's Work to Travel to China,” Business Times, 14 October 2000, 7. (From NewspaperSG)
32. Tee Hun Ching, “Liu Kang Donates Life’s Works To Museum,” Straits Times, 1 June 2003, 32. (From NewspaperSG)
33. Foong, “Artist Liu Kang, 93, Dies.”
34. Gretchen Mahbubani, “Journey of a Pioneer Artist,” Straits Times, 1 December 1981, 1 (From NewspaperSG); “Through the Eyes of an Artist.”
35. Mathi, “The Portraits of My Love”; Samuel Lee, “And Love Is the Greatest,” Straits Times, 31 May 2003, 5. (From NewspaperSG)
36. Suryadinata, Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent, 687–89.
37. “Life and Times,” Straits Times, 2 June 2004, 4 (From NewsaperSG); Sasitharan, “Coloured By Time.”
38. “Life and Times”; “Father of Art’s ‘Blind’ Despair,” New Paper, 31 May 2003, 16. (From NewspaperSG)
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