When Art is a Matter of Taste

In the same way that Nanyang artists embraced Singapore’s identity through their food art, these next-generation creatives are extending the role of food in contemporary art.

- LIM QIXUAN 

Cézanne’s fruit paintings in the last three decades of his life earned him a lifetime position on lists of top food paintings anywhere in the world. “Sumptuous beauty” is how the French institute Musée d’Orsay describes his still life Pommes et Oranges, one of over 100 canvases adorned with vibrant plump apples, oranges, peaches, pears, melons, and cherries.

Did the French artist have a fondness for produce? These were likely everyday kitchen staples, easy to obtain and arrange into tableaus, upon which the post-impressionist perfected a style that would inspire generations — from Matisse and Picasso to early Singapore painters.

Such is the pedigree of food art in the republic, whose value is still high. Last December, local icon Georgette Chen’s Still Life (Mid-Autumn Festival) sold through Christie’s for over S$1.8 million; her Still Life with Cut Apple and Orange, on display at the National Gallery Singapore, practically bursts with Cézanne’s influence.

Chen’s auction piece and her other works depicting local foods illustrate the Nanyang artists’ embrace of their uniquely Singaporean identity. No longer content to depict European harvests, she has immortalised pomelos, piggy biscuits, and mooncakes sliced to reveal their yolks. It was the same with her contemporaries. Tchang Ju Chi painted mangosteens, rambutans and jackfruit, Lee Boon Ngan presented his impression of the Singaporean breakfast of bread, eggs and coffee, and Chua Mia Tee painted fish head curry.