A common misconception that we have about art in Singapore is how we often look at it as something superficial that either reflects a person’s societal status, or is used as a decorative measure to elevate the ambience of a location. This belief is largely due to the typical monetary value of art pieces that make them seem more of a luxury to have than the necessity to own.
Hoping to change the perception of how Singaporeans view art, the Private Museum is looking to offer an alternative perspective to art with its latest exhibition to celebrate Singapore’s 60th birthday — The Art of Lee Boon Ngan: Celebrating 60 Years of Singapore through the Love of Chua Mia Tee & Lee Boon Ngan.
This landmark exhibition strives to honour the love and legacy between two Singaporeans who have dedicated their lives to art and the nation, focusing on Lee Boon Ngan who became an artist in her own right as she remained the steadfast and quiet strength of the family as a mother and wife to Cultural Medallion recipient Chua Mia Tee; who is widely recognised for his contributions to Singapore’s national visual identity through his realist paintings.
Featuring rarely seen portraits of their children and grandchildren, the exhibition is a poignant tribute to dedication and resilience, offering a biographical window into the private world of a family bound by art.
Speaking to NYLON Singapore, Ernestine Chua who is the granddaughter of the artists and an artist in her own right, shared that while she had interests in different art mediums as a kid, it was also the “great luxury” that she had of having artists in her home that eventually got her started on her path as an artist.
“My grandparents were very warm and welcoming about the way they spoke and created art, and there was never a pressure on me as a kid to produce art,” she said.
“I think that this environment really fostered the interest in art and why I took it on a higher education level because I started off with such a healthy and welcoming way to sort of explore art in different mediums.”
This open and nurturing experience between Ernestine and her grandparents led her to easily adopt the fundamentals of art without feeling like she had to attend a class, and motivated her to create various types of art, including her very first oil painting at age 15, which she had done together with her grandmother in the studio.
It was also during this moment when something her grandmother said went on to become a form of mantra whenever she worked on a project.
“It was when she said, the most important part of painting is when you mix and choose your colours in the palette before you touch brush to canvas,” said Ernestine.
This advice from her grandmother was something that stuck with Ernestine and heavily influenced the way she painted and the way that she would add colours, layered on heavily, without taking anything away or even blending them with gradients.
She explained, “I think it sort of stemmed from the way the both of them paint with such precision and their choice of colour were very calculated on the palette before they went onto canvas.”
Even though Ernestine may not dabble in the fine arts per se, having gone to school for illustration and visual media, she still finds a way to incorporate her grandparents’ art styles into her art form, by appreciating colour like they would, and utilising the fundamentals she learned from them to translate 3D to 2D art and vice versa.
The exhibition brings together a selection of both grandparents’ artworks showcasing Chua Mia Tee’s renowned landscape painting and portraits of public figures, and Lee Boon Ngan’s exquisite flower paintings.
When asked what her favourite pieces were from her grandparents, Ernestine was quick to point out her grandmother’s pink peonies and her grandfather’s portrait of her grandmother as the two that she would “hound” her family about all the time.
This was largely due to the fact that both art pieces used to be familiar sights she would see around the house. The pink peonies used to sit over the family’s dining table while the portrait of her grandmother had sat at the top of the stairs.
“Every memory I have of the house has a minimum of three paintings in the peripheral or in the background. So, those two paintings in particular are what I have a grip on,” she said.
But, aside from the sentimental value, Ernestine sees those two artworks as pieces that represents quite a few of her grandparents’ strengths.
“My grandmother was very meticulous with the way she painted and you can see a lot of different representations of the peony petals in shapes and tones,” said Ernestine.
While she claims that she is “bias” when it comes to her grandfather’s portrait of her grandmother, she explained that it was because it was an “very understated” but yet a comfortable painting of her grandmother doing her own art.
It was also a form of photographic moment of her grandmother.
“Like me, my grandmother didn’t to be photographed but my grandfather had so many paintings of her in such natural, candid positions that I never felt like I missed out on any photographs.”
From glimpses of their shared studio space to works that speak of everyday affection, the exhibition harmonises two monumental figures and foregrounds the often invisible labour of love behind art too, reminding us that it is not always about the grand gestures but also the tender, often uncelebrated choices that shape lives and legacies.
When asked what she hoped visitors will take away from the exhibition, Ernestine said: “I’m very happy that there’s a strong focus on my grandmother because she very much drove the car in raising us. As meticulous as she was in her practice, she was in life as well as raising us as children, so I hope people would consider her work a little more.”
