Chua Mia Tee, known for his sympathetic depictions of the people of Singapore during the country’s early period of self-rule, has died, age 94. The artist’s daughter, Chua Yang, told the Straits Times that her father was recently hospitalized for pneumonia and died at his Bukit Timah home on July 10.
No less than Singaporean president Tharman Shanmugaratnam posted on Facebook about the artist’s passing, expressing “much respect” and saying, “He gave everyone, from the shipyard worker to the elderly dumpling seller, their portrait and place in Singapore’s history.”
Shanmugaratnam continued, “He contributed in that way to the building of our national identity, when we were a young nation and society in the making.” (Long under British control, Singapore gained self-governance in 1959.) “His paintings also helped to connect younger Singaporeans with the past,” the president added, concluding, “I hope his art stays in our minds.”
Chua’s portrait of Yusof Ishak, Singapore’s head of state from 1959 to 1970, currently graces Singaporean currency.
In 2021, the National Gallery Singapore mounted a survey of the artist, titled “Chua Mia Tee: Directing the Real,” calling him “one of the leading realist artists in Singapore’s art history.” The artist depicted everyday scenes and portrayed Singaporeans during the transformative years from the 1950s to the ’80s.
Chua was a founding member of the Equator Art Society, a group of artists primarily concerned, as the museum described them, with depicting social conditions and the masses, especially the working class, in a realist style. “As an artist, educator and active member of the historically influential Equator Art Society,” said museum director Eugene Tan in press materials at the time, “Chua is an influential figure in Singapore’s art history and landscape who has made nationally significant artistic contributions throughout his distinguished career.”
Tan, quoted in the Straits Times, called Chua’s death a “profound loss,” and added, “As an artist, educator and key figure in Singapore’s art history, he made nationally significant artistic contributions throughout his distinguished career. Through his artistry and dedication, his works offer an enduring portrayal of Singapore’s journey, one that will remain a profound source of inspiration for future generations.”
The museum’s website owns around 25 works by the artist, including the undated pastel Singapore’s National Day Celebrations, the 1977 painting Fortune Telling Minstrel, 1957’s Portrait of Lee Boon Ngan of fellow Singaporean artist, and 1959’s National Language Class, which the Straits Times describes as an “acclaimed” work.
Born in Shantou, China in 1931, Chua fled to Singapore with his family during the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. He graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, teaching there as a student as well as after he graduated. In 2015 he was granted a Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest honor for artists.
The Straits Times notes that he is survived by his two children, Chua Hong and Chua Yang, and two grandchildren, Ignatius and Ernestine Chua.
