Painted in 1966, this work reflects Liu Kang’s mature synthesis of Western modernism and Southeast Asian subject matter, a hallmark of the Nanyang style he helped define. Having trained in Shanghai and Paris, Liu adapted Post-Impressionist color and structure to local environments, focusing on everyday life rather than monumental themes. A horizontal scene unfolds as a dense, immersive flower market where a group of Southeast Asian women, with medium to light-brown skin tones, move quietly among thick clusters of tropical plants and cut blossoms. Their bodies are elongated and softly contoured, outlined in dark, fluid lines. Most wear simplified dresses in muted blues, greens, and warm pinks, with hair tied back or falling long over their shoulders. Several tilt their head downward, eyes cast toward the flowers they hold or examine, creating a shared mood of calm focus. In the foreground, large leaves and white, yellow, coral, and deep red blooms rise to chest height, partially obscuring hands and torsos. At right, a woman in a vivid orange dress bends forward, gently gathering small yellow flowers, while a central figure in pink stands upright, anchoring the composition. Background figures dissolve into cool blue-green haze, their features softened, as if seen through humidity or memory. This market is more than a place of commerce. It is a shared social space shaped by care, labor, and quiet attention. The women are not individualized portraits but part of a collective rhythm, visually interwoven with the plants they handle. This blending of human and botanical forms suggests interdependence with cultivation as both economic and emotional practice. The softened edges and dreamlike palette evoke memory rather than strict observation, inviting us to feel the stillness, closeness, and sensory richness of color and scent. Liu elevates an ordinary scene into something lyrical and contemplative, where beauty emerges through everyday gestures and communal presence.

“花市 (At the Flower Market)” by 刘抗 / Liu Kang (Chinese-born Singaporean) - Oil on canvas / 1966 - National Gallery Singapore #WomenInArt #LiuKang #刘抗 #Kang #NationalGallerySingapore #NanyangStyle #artText #art #arte #asianart #blueskyart #paintingofwomen #SingaporeanArt #SingaporeArt #ChineseArtist

Painted in Shanghai, China around 1946, this self-portrait came after years of upheaval for Georgette Chen (张荔英), born Chang Li Ying in Zhejiang in 1906 and trained in Paris and New York. She had already exhibited at the Salon d’Automne and lived between China, Europe, and the United States, but war, occupation, and the death of her husband, diplomat Eugene Chen, left deep marks on her life. Here she chooses neither grief nor glamour with tight framing, a subdued sepia palette, and economical brushwork presenting a working artist who knows her craft and her worth. The East Asian artist is seen close-up from the neck up, turning slightly to our left while fixing us with a steady, sideways gaze. Her oval face fills almost the entire small canvas and her light olive skin modeled with blocky, blended strokes and a gentle flush on the cheeks. Dark, almond-shaped eyes sit beneath faint brows, one catching more light than the other. Her lips, painted a cool rose pink, are closed in a calm, determined line. Her black hair is swept back and gathered into a coil near her ear. She wears a dark, high-collared blouse that hints at a cheongsam, its edge just visible at the neck. The background is a soft, mottled field of browns and greys, without props or studio details, keeping all attention on her poised, focused presence. Her level gaze feels both introspective and guarded, as if she is measuring the world that has tested her and deciding how to go on. A few years later, she would move to Malaya (Malaysia) and then Singapore, becoming a key figure in the Nanyang style and teaching generations at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Now in the National Gallery Singapore, this self-portrait often anchors retrospectives of her work, standing as a concise statement of her resilience, cosmopolitan training, and lifelong commitment to painting.

“Self Portrait” by Georgette Chen (张荔英) (Singaporean, China-born) - Oil on canvas / c. 1946 - National Gallery Singapore #WomenInArt #art #artText #GeorgetteChen #张荔英 #AsianArtist #Asian #NationalGallerySingapore #SelfPortrait #BlueskyArt #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #AsianArt #NanyangStyle