Liu Kang

Liu Kang was a pioneering Singaporean artist associated with the Nanyang school, a modern art movement practised by migrant Chinese painters in Singapore from the late-1940s to the 1960s. His work significantly shaped the visual arts in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Liu was born in Fujian, China, in 1911 – the final year of the last Chinese imperial dynasty. He moved to Shanghai at the age of ten, where he later studied at the Shanghai College of Fine Arts. There, Liu was exposed to both Western and Eastern art forms that greatly influenced his artistic development, blending traditional Chinese aesthetics with modernist Western techniques.

In the 1920s, Liu Kang travelled to Paris and studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Fully immersing in the bourgeoning art scene, the experience in Paris proved transformative. Liu encountered various modernist styles, particularly post-Impressionism and Fauvism. His affinity to works by Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Matisse can be found in the purity of line work and vibrancy of colours — all done with a mastery control.

Liu Kang moved to Singapore in 1942, where he became a leading figure in the local art community. He was instrumental in founding the Nanyang style, an artistic movement that sought to blend Western painting techniques with Southeast Asian themes and aesthetics. Liu Liu’s works often depicted scenes from the Malay Archipelago, such as village life, local landscapes and cultural traditions, imbued with a distinct Southeast Asian identity.

In 1952 Liu made a seminal trip to Bali, Indonesia, which inspired his most significant output, a series of compelling depictions of the simplicity of daily life in Bali with figures donning traditional batik costumes. In 2022 Christie’s Hong Kong sold Liu’s 1997 work, Adjusting the Waistband, for HK$3,150,000.

Liu Kang’s life is a celebration of artistic discovery and creative visions. A pioneer of modern art in Singapore, Liu also instructed art for 38 years, co-founded the Singapore Art Society in 1949, and was appointed Chairman of the Visual Art Advisory Committee in 1978. In 2003 Liu donated the majority of his life’s work — over 1,000 paintings and sketches — to the Singapore Art Museum in 2003. Liu Kang died in Singapore in 2004.