00:00The Xinhua-Maliang Pond was 90% from the South America.
00:07The Xinhua-Maliang Pond contributed greatly to the cultivation of our post-Qing dynasty embroidery.
00:15The Xinhua-Maliang Pond was 90% from the South America.
00:20The Xinhua-Maliang Pond contributed greatly to the cultivation of our post-Qing dynasty embroidery.
00:29Georgette Chen is one of Singapore's most important first-generation artists.
00:35A bridge between Eastern and Western cultures,
00:38Chen would lay the foundations for the artistic identity of a new nation.
00:44She was born in 1906 to a wealthy family in Zhejiang province in China.
00:51With Auntie Georgette, we lived on three different continents.
00:56And I think Auntie Georgette was influenced by all three.
01:00Georgette Chen grew up in France, China, and America.
01:05Her father, Zhang Jingjiang, was an antique dealer.
01:09His career took her through these vibrant cities and shaped her early years.
01:15Her sisters played the piano at home.
01:20Only aristocrats could play the piano.
01:24But Teacher Zhang was short,
01:29so she had to learn painting.
01:33Her father hired a teacher from the Soviet Union to teach her.
01:38She was first of all exposed to art in Paris and in New York.
01:44In the first early part of the 20th century,
01:47French Impressionism dominated the scene,
01:51and she was exposed to that during her formative years as an artist.
01:56Chen spoke fluent French and was well acquainted with the sights and sounds of Paris.
02:02She was immensely inspired by Paris,
02:05where she grew up gazing at great art in museums.
02:08That was also where she had her first breakthrough as an Asian female artist.
02:13Chen was just 24 when two of her works were selected for exhibition
02:19in the very prestigious Salon d'Automne.
02:22And her work was also featured in a 1937 exhibition at the Musée Jodepalm.
02:29Chen was the only Chinese artist to be exhibited in this exhibition under the International section.
02:36That same year, Georgette married the influential diplomat Eugene Chen in Paris,
02:42who would later become the first foreign minister of Sun Yat-sen's government in the 1920s.
02:52However, her blissful marriage was compromised by the global upheavals of the mid-century.
02:59After their wedding in Paris, Eugene Chen and Georgette moved to Shanghai in 1931,
03:06and later to Hong Kong when the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937.
03:12The war was an incredibly difficult time for Chen as well as Eugene Chen,
03:18and yet she continued to paint, using it as an outlet
03:24and sticking very closely to her desire to continue her work as a professional artist
03:30really speaks to the incredible commitment that she had to her craft.
03:35In fact, incredibly, in 1943, in the middle of the war,
03:39she actually held a small exhibition of her works at the Metropole Hotel in Shanghai.
03:45Chen was an extraordinary artist who endured the turmoil of four significant conflicts,
03:51the Chinese revolutions of 1911 and 1949, and both World War I and II.
03:58Despite Chen overcoming the trials of war and finding artistic success,
04:04another trial was on the way when her main support and husband, Eugene, passed away in 1944.
04:12But again, that didn't end Georgette's career.
04:17She found love again and moved to Penang in 1951 with him to pursue a new life and career.
04:26Quickly integrating into Penang, she formed many new friendships.
04:34I was seven years old when I first met Auntie Georgette,
04:38I was seven years old when I first met Auntie Georgette,
04:41and very quickly, Auntie Georgette became my absolute favorite auntie.
04:48Whenever she came, she always played with us, the children, with her endless stories.
04:57I observed that she had this very relaxed, friendly personality.
05:05It doesn't matter who she was speaking to, she treated everybody the same,
05:10from the driver, the gardener, all the way to a prime minister.
05:19She arrived in 1951 in Penang, and in many ways, it was meant to be a temporary stay,
05:26but was later invited to take up a teaching position at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art in Singapore.
05:33So that promise of employment and being able to continue her work as an artist
05:38really then motivated her to move to Singapore.
05:43Truly one of the paradises of this world, with these calm and warm shores on which so many races live,
05:51blending their cultures and colors into a many-splendored pattern to feast the avid eyes of the artist.
06:00In 1954, Georgette Chen started working as a part-time art teacher at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts,
06:08which was the only art school in Southeast Asia until the 1950s.
06:13This enabled her to continue her artistic pursuits while earning an income.
06:29I was already colleagues with Ms. Chen.
06:33So at that time, I became more familiar with Ms. Chen.
06:38Her concern for the students was well-known to everyone.
06:44She was like an old mother to us.
06:47She also learned Malay, and I think that really speaks to, again,
06:52the true thread of determination and also sincere commitment to the new place that she was calling her home.
07:00I now have a Malay name. I chose Chandana.
07:04To be a piece of wood is better since I am a natural blockhead.
07:09Now I remain one with a difference, a fragrant one.
07:22I want to understand everything about this place.
07:28I want to paint the scenery here.
07:31Look at the Singapore River and the old houses here.
07:34They are very well-painted.
07:36They are painted by the eyes.
07:39Chen developed a reputation for her Impressionist-style oil paintings depicting still life.
07:45She sought to capture the poetry of everyday life in quintessential Singapore.
07:52She did not draw the portrait of the West or the poetry of the West.
07:57She did not draw the painting of China.
08:01She only painted what was hers, what was local to her.
08:06That is what was unique to her.
08:08She loved to paint the tropical landscape, the architecture, the fruits.
08:15She became very famous for painting rambutans and mangosteens and durians.
08:21By the way, she loves to eat durians, which is a surprise because she is a newcomer compared to the locals.
08:28Chen contributed in many ways beyond just her teaching post at the school.
08:33She was almost a fixture in the artistic community at the time.
08:40She was very actively involved in a lot of local art societies such as the Singapore Art Society.
08:46She had her first solo exhibition in Singapore at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in 1953.
08:53She was already very well-known as a successful and established artist.
09:01She loved to paint people.
09:06She really captures people's personality as if we just met them.
09:14It was a moment of time that you see the person, that she catches that look.
09:24Chen had a very particular approach when she was painting portraits.
09:29She often refused to paint from photographs, insisting that she spend time with her subjects,
09:35inviting them to sit for her multiple times over the course of weeks, sometimes months.
09:44Her portraiture skills were so sought after that politicians like the first Prime Minister of Malaysia,
09:50Tunku Abdul Rahman, wanted her to personally paint them.
09:56When I was seven years old, Auntie Georgette painted this painting of me holding a doll,
10:03and it is entitled Dolly and Her Doll.
10:08You know, my name is Dorothy.
10:11Auntie Georgette is the only person in the entire universe who's allowed to call me Dolly.
10:20I absolutely adore the painting because it's a remembrance of my childhood
10:26and remembrance of the quality time I spent with her alone while she was painting me.
10:33Art to me is a labour of love, and like such labours, expects neither gain nor reward,
10:40and brings meaning into one's life.
10:44Chen really encouraged her students to find what would work best for them within their own artistic practices,
10:52which were really responding to a period of development and change in Singapore,
10:58especially in the 1960s and 70s.
11:03A great example is Ng Ying Ting, whom she was very, very close to
11:08and really encouraged to pursue his practice in ceramics.
11:32Although she found respite from the political instability of her time in Singapore,
11:39she was still able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
11:43She was able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
11:46She was able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
11:49She was able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
11:52She was able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
11:55She was able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
11:58She was able to pursue her passion for ceramics.
12:01Despite the political instability of her earlier years on the sunny island,
12:06Georgette Chen was struck with a hereditary illness, rheumatoid arthritis.
12:11She was often in great pain, but she continued to paint and teach.
12:31It was already in the late 70s.
12:35She was very serious.
12:37She would still paint even when she was in pain.
12:44She was very serious. We respected her very much.
12:51Chen often spoke about how life is anguish and blessings all intermingled,
12:57which we must accept and carry on as best we can.
13:03Auntie Georgette had this incredible personality,
13:07despite all the challenges she had to endure in her adult life.
13:13And she made the most of it.
13:15Ms. Chen's rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments
13:19have been going on for more than a year or two.
13:22She should retire.
13:25I said,
13:27if you want to retire, I'll retire with you.
13:30She laughed.
13:31She said, you're joking.
13:33You're so young.
13:34We're the youngest teachers.
13:36What retirement?
13:40At the end of January, the students held a small tea party for us.
13:45Two teachers retired.
13:47The oldest and the youngest.
13:49From that day on, we didn't go to school anymore.
13:56Georgette Chen taught at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
14:00over a span of 27 years,
14:02educating and influencing a whole generation of artists.
14:07She was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1982.
14:11This prestigious award honors individuals
14:14who have made outstanding contributions
14:17to the cultural landscape of the country.
14:20The last time I saw Georgette
14:23was, I think, in the 1990s.
14:27She was already bedridden for over 10 years
14:31from her rheumatoid arthritis.
14:35And we had a lovely conversation.
14:39What she looked like was, you know, she's very petite.
14:42You know, she always wore high heels.
14:44Her hair was always well done.
14:46And she even had her nails done.
14:49So we had a chat, and I know that she was very weak.
14:53And when I had to leave, I came to her side,
14:58and I said goodbye to her,
15:00and I kissed her lightly on both cheeks,
15:03smiling, and we both were smiling, and I left.
15:07And I knew I'm not going to see her again.
15:14Georgette died in 1993
15:16after a long battle with rheumatoid arthritis.
15:21But she lives on through her art.
15:29Chen painted herself.
15:33What's most interesting to me
15:35is really, again, that consistency,
15:38the self-assuredness,
15:40and also quiet confidence that she always exudes,
15:43regardless of the time in which her life she was going through.
15:51I shall end with a word on happiness itself,
15:54that elusive thing that we all seek in life.
15:59I can tell you that like rare and worthwhile things,
16:03it simply does not grow on trees for all to pick and taste.
16:08It has to be worked and planned for.
16:11Then, someday, somehow,
16:14it will spring forth from some inner reserves of a mature heart.
16:21Georgette Chen's love for this land,
16:24this tropical land in which she found rehabilitation,
16:28had finally come full circle.
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