Cheong Soo Pieng (1917-1983) RiversideCheong Soo Pieng (1917-1983)Riverside circa 1960ssignedink and gouache on paper85 by 45 cm.33 1/2 by 17 3/4 in.ProvenancePrivate collection, London鍾泗濱 河畔 約1960年代作 簽名：亖賓 藝術家鈐印 水墨 水粉 紙本 來源 倫敦私人收藏One of the most influential artists in Singapore's art history, Cheong Soo Pieng is best known for his never-ending commitment to artistic experimentation. Born in 1917 in Xiamen, China, Soo Pieng received his formal training at Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts and Shanghai's Xinhua Academy of Fine arts in the 1930s. He engaged with a wide range of mediums, materials, and techniques throughout his evolving practice and went on to successfully develop an enduring style characterised by sincerity and uniqueness. Soo Pieng started his diasporic journey when he moved to Singapore from China in 1946 and taught at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts until 1961. As an artist who sojourned overseas in search of a new identity, he travelled extensively throughout Southeast Asia and Europe to seek creative inspiration. His historic field trip to Bali in 1952 with three other artists Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee and Liu Kang would define a distinctive artistic approach that later termed as the Nanyang Style marked by its Southeast Asian subject matter and idealised vision of local identity. Soo Pieng's mid-career travels to Europe between 1961 and 1963 had a profound impact on the evolution of his style and techniques. During his sojourn in Europe, he shared his artworks with a broader range of international audiences by holding exhibitions at famous galleries like Frost and Reed (1962) and Redfern (1963) in London. More importantly, he encountered the works of European masters including Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Paul Klee. Among these prominent modern artists of the West, Soo Pieng was most intrigued by Paul Klee's innovative ways of experimenting visual elements such as line, form, and colour. Soo Pieng is known for the recurring theme of local riverine scenes in his art. Riverside is a delicate depiction of a serene riverscape in ink and colour on paper while incorporating sketching skills and geometric techniques. The artist employed horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines to create simplistic forms and picture planes. The vertical pictorial format of the Chinese hanging scroll adopted by Soo Pieng in this painting allows the onlooker to view the entire composition at once and to observe the foreground, middle ground and far distances freely as the viewer's eye moves upwards. Riverside not only demonstrates Soo Pieng's inventive synthesis of both Chinese and Western artistic tropes, but also reflects his hybrid visual language that represents an amalgamation of diverse inspirations.鍾泗濱被譽爲新加坡美術史上最具影響力的藝術家之一，他在1917年出生於中國福建廈門，1930年代就讀於廈門美術專科學校，後赴上海新華藝術專科學校深造。鍾泗濱畢生致力於各種形式的藝術實驗，在其創作歷程中，他廣泛嘗試各種媒介、素材和繪畫技巧，進而成功建立感情真摯、技法獨特且歷久彌新的藝術風格。 1946年，鍾泗濱從中國移居至新加坡，自此展開僑居之旅，並在新加坡南洋美術專科學校（今南洋藝術學院）任教至1961年。新移民的身份讓他造訪東南亞和歐洲各地汲取創作靈感，藉此探求和形塑新的身份認同。1952年，鍾泗濱與另三位先驅藝術家陳文希、陳宗瑞和劉抗共赴峇里島寫生。此次深具意義的旅程造就了南洋畫派及其獨特繪畫風格，即著重描繪東南亞人文風情，以獨樹一幟的藝術手法建構富有理想性的在地文化認同。 鍾泗濱在其藝術生涯中期，即1961至63年間，前往歐洲旅居兩年。這段旅程對其風格和繪畫技巧的演進產生了深遠的影響。旅歐期間，鍾泗濱在當地知名藝廊如位於倫敦的佛羅斯特和里德畫廊與雷德芬畫廊舉辦展覽，向更廣大的國際觀眾介紹自己的作品。更重要的是，他在歐洲受到多位現代藝術大師作品的啓發，這些大師包括馬蒂斯、畢加索、康定斯基和保羅·克利。其中鍾泗濱最爲鍾情保羅·克利的創作，及其實驗和巧妙運用線條、形狀和色彩等視覺元素之創新畫風。 鍾氏作品常以東南亞各地的河岸場景為題，《河畔》此一設色水墨紙本畫作結合素描手法和幾何圖形，描繪恬靜的河邊景色。畫家運用水平、垂直和對角線條，勾勒兼具簡約和細膩特質的畫面。中式立軸的垂直構圖，讓觀畫者先得以一眼飽覽全景，然後視綫再由下往上移動，逐步欣賞畫作之近景、中景和遠景。此畫不僅展示鍾泗濱融貫中西繪畫特質的創造力，也體現其豐富多元和兼容並蓄的視覺語言。