Insightful and original, the exhibition invites visitors to rediscover the surprising versatility of one of Southeast Asia's most important artists.

Kicking off Singapore Art Week 2019 is a new exhibition at STPI dedicated to the late Singaporean artist, Cheong Soo Pieng.&nbsp;For the very first time, the artist&rsquo;s ingenious approach to composition and materiality will be&nbsp;examined in the exhibition, &quot;Soo Pieng: Master of Composition&quot;.&nbsp;

The exhibition will highlight&nbsp;Cheong&#39;s artistic breadth and depth through 52 exemplary paintings, sculptures and works on paper which feature Chinese ink oil, and metal, amongst other materials.

Born in 1917 in Xiamen, China,&nbsp;Cheong Soo Pieng has been lauded as one of Southeast Asia&rsquo;s most important artists emerging&nbsp;from the post-war Chinese diaspora. He is often credited as a pioneer of the&nbsp;&lsquo;Nanyang Style&#39;, an Asian art movement that emerged in&nbsp;the 1950s.

He was also a considered a&nbsp;father of East-West modernism in Singapore. Influenced by his frequent travels around Southeast Asia, Cheong eventually refined&nbsp;his distinctive depiction of the female figure. He was also exposed to modernist abstraction in Europe, which&nbsp;later led to his sculptural explorations.&nbsp;

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Over the course of his career, Cheong&#39;s paintings and artworks&nbsp;were shown extensively&nbsp;across Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Glasgow and Dublin.&nbsp;His exceptional contribution to the local&nbsp;arts and cultural scene earned him the Meritorious Service Medal in 1962.&nbsp;

After Cheong&#39;s passing in 1983, his&nbsp;work&nbsp;continues to be studied, exhibited and widely collected today. It is also included&nbsp;in&nbsp;public collections for the National Heritage Board and the&nbsp;National University of Singapore.&nbsp;

&quot;Soo Pieng: Master of Composition&quot; showcases works gleaned from important private collections, providing&nbsp;a definitive selection of some of Cheong&#39;s most seminal creations. Both popular artworks and&nbsp;newly-revealed masterpieces will be on display, allowing for a fresh perspective&nbsp;of the painter&#39;s most important achievements.

The exhibition will run from 19 January to 9 March, 2019, at the&nbsp;STPI Creative Workshop &amp; Gallery in Robertson Quay.&nbsp;Head to <a href="http://www.stpi.com.sg/">the gallery&#39;s website</a> to find out more, or get a glimpse of Cheong&#39;s art works below:

Forest. 1948. Oil on canvas. 81 x 92.5 x 6 cm.

Balinese Lady. 1980. Oil on canvas. 79 x 80 x 4.5 cm

Modern Painting. 1975. Oil on canvas. 156 x 127 x 6.5 cm.

Untitled. 1963. Ink on paper. 103.5 x 129 x 5 cm

STPI Presents 'Soo Pieng: Master of Composition'

L’OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — September 2025

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L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE June-July 2025

L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — May 2025

L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — April 2025

L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — March 2025

L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — February 2025

L’OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — Dec 2024-Jan 2025

L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — November 2024

L’OFFICIEL SINGAPORE — October 2024

STPI Presents 'Soo Pieng: Master of Composition'

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