HE TIANJIAN (1893-1974)
Fishing
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
50.7 x 37.5 cm. (20 x 14 ³⁄₄ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with two seals of the artist
Dated autumn, jisi year (1929)
Dedicated to Chengfu

Dr. Lawrence Wong Men Koy (1941-2018) was a revered professor in the School of Business at the National University of Singapore and an esteemed pioneer in the field of Organizational Development and Leadership. In tandem with his devotion to academia, Dr. Wong’s passion for art scholarship and connoisseurship was well known in academic and art circles in Singapore.

While Dr. Wong’s art collection was wide-ranging across cultures and genres, his passion and primary focus as a collector was in Chinese ink painting and calligraphy. Dr. Wong travelled frequently to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong throughout the 1970s to 1990s to acquire these works of art and to commune with the artists to learn about their artistic process. He greatly valued an artist’s studio practice, and in many cases acquired works directly from the artists over the course of their careers. He believed in supporting artists, and enjoyed personal relationships with them as he followed their artistic journeys over several decades. He especially treasured his relationships with the artists Zhu Qizhan and Lu Yanshao.

This collection will present seven paintings in “Fine Chinese Modern and Ink Contemporary Paintings” on 31 May 2023.