Chia Yu Chian Enlivened
- Valerie Lee Tong
- Nov 8, 2017
- 2 min read
So today was another day of cozy weather. These few days have been raining almost whole day long, from night till morning, evening till night. My mum decided to bring me to a exhibition that her friend shared on FB, "Chia Yu Chian Enlivened Memorial Art Exhibition (再见谢玉谦回顾纪念展)". After 27 years of his deaths, Yu Chian’s family, who runs the Chia Yu Chian art gallery, organised this exhibition to commemorate the artist, in collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).
Yu Chian was born in Johor, in 1936, and he was only 15 years old when his paintings were publicly exhibited for the first time in a group exhibition. He was also the first artist from Malaysia and Singapore to receive a scholarship from the French government to study art at the École Nationale Supériere des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After his studies from Paris, he came back to Malaysia and developed his own style of painting, depicting anything from people to heritage buildings and scenery. His also met many notable figures such as Tunku Abdul Rahman.
When looking through his paintings, I found out most of his works were oil paints, soft pastels and drawings of his sketches. His paintings reminds me of the European old master's painting, especially the Modern Art period. Figures that looked like Gauguin's while the colors reminded me of Matisse and paintings of Expressionism. I read he was inspired by Cubism and Expressionism and maybe because of that, most of his paintings have the European old master's brush strokes and colors. Honestly speaking, his soft pastel attract my attention more than his oil paints, the way he mixed his colors were brilliant and it looked harmonious although many colors were used. Only one oil painting that caught my attention which is this one, a semi-abstract landscape.
Before going back home we took our lunch there, the food, scrumptious! One pax of food could actually shared by both of us! Another extra, Fried sweet potato balls and jasmine tea . . .
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