Artist: Tan Choo Kai (1937-2021)

“One never took the time to savour the details; one said: another day, but always with the hidden knowledge that each day was unique and fatal, that there never would be a return, another time.” – Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky.

A little more than a month ago in May 2021, renowned local artist Mr Tan Choo Kai passed away at the age of 84, leaving behind countless paintings for art appreciators to study and admire. As one of the few prolific painters in Singapore who had been painting and teaching tirelessly after his retirement, Mr Tan’s output demonstrated his diligence and truthfulness to his artistic vision.

Mr Tan's expertise was in oils, and he was well-known for his landscapes of various places and countries. Be it towering mountains, wilderness of ice and snow or desolate countryside and woods, he was adept at presenting his landscapes in the most harmonious colours using skilled brush strokes or knife work, thereby holding viewers captive to his ‘artistic language’.

This talent for complementing colours was best exemplified in Mr Tan Choo Kai’s oil painting of the famous Jiu Zhai Gou (九寨溝) in Sichuan Province, China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. Mr Tan’s bright colours and vivid illustration of the nature reserve stimulates the vision of his audience and appeals to the sense of wonder innate in each of us.

The awe-inspiring depiction of Jiu Zhai Gou reminds us of the sanctity of Nature and the value of environmental preservation. Deforestation, extreme weather, increased natural disasters or catastrophes has led to a resurgence in environmental awareness and advocacy among the general public. In this context, there is a growing sentiment of Man’s fragility and dependence on Earth for Life. The natural world not only gives humans resources for us to survive but also enriches our lives by serving as a source of inspiration, as it did for Mr Tan.

The mixture of soft delicate pinks, yellows, and purples in the foreground enhances the soothing greenery in the background while embellishing the artwork with alluring colours. Art appreciators may derive a sense of comfort from the lush fauna and the clear, fresh waters while basking in the golden rays of sunlight as seen in the warm tint of the painting. Simultaneously, the pastel flora bejewels the landscape with a touch of charm and enchantment. This Jiu Zhai Gou piece by Mr Tan Choo Kai makes us believe that Utopia exists, and that it is found here on Earth.

Since his retirement in 1997 from Nanyang Girl’s High School as the Head of Department of Art, Mr Tan had travelled extensively to capture beautiful sceneries with his camera while also doing plein air painting and sketching. Most impressing was that Mr Tan was not bound by the accuracy of physical forms but committed to painting the images of beautiful landscapes from memory. This best reflects the sayings of China’s pioneer painter, Wu Dayu, “Being subservient to the physical form does not help to capture the artistic image. Real beauty exists between the physical form and the mental image.” As such, he is able to blend the natural elements to create a painting with a supreme sense of beauty.

Having striven diligently in the art world for half a century, Mr Tan had established a style of his own which blends the hallmarks of his revered teacher, Yap Chi Wei, namely in the colouring techniques of expressionism and the pursuit of aesthetics. Mr Tan’s devotion to artistic expression over exact replication and excessive details allowed him to transcend immediate perception and to connect with the viewer on a more intimate, emotional level.

In his illustration of a fishing village in Batam, Mr Tan documented the ‘ordinary’ life of Indonesian fisherman or village person. Yet, beyond this superficial mundanity lies a deeper sense of nostalgia and contemplation. Rather than depicting fishermen wrestling with the turbulent waters out at sea or a villager toiling industriously at his craft, Mr Tan instead chose the quiet image of villagers sitting together or resting on their porch or front steps. The human figures are also not the focus of the painting as seen from their small size, and greater attention is paid to the structure of the wooden shacks, the surrounding trees, and the irregular land surface. Mr Tan employed green and brown tones generously, with the final results being a textured, earthy composition of a fishing village undisturbed by the concrete clutches of urbanisation.

Singapore, like Batam, was once a small fishing village up till the early 1800s and has since developed into an unrecognisable international hub bustling with industrial activity. Mr Tan’s painting of the Batam fishing village instantaneously transports the contemporary viewer back to a not-so-distant past with a completely different way of living. Art observers are filled with a wistful longing for a simpler, more peaceful lifestyle as they imagine a separate reality distinct from their hectic, long workdays and a particular alienation that comes with urban living.

The great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once exclaimed that “[We] use a glass mirror to see [our] face; [we] use works of art to see [our] soul”. Mr Tan Choo Kai’s work of art too forces us to contemplate the real benefits derived from and conceivable trade-offs of urbanisation. As we relish in the comforts and excesses of modern living, what has been lost in the frenzied clamber towards prosperity and worldly riches, and has it been worth it? The answers in each viewer’s heart may be different, with no absolute right or wrong, and even so, Mr Tan invites us to consider a different perspective, an alternative possibility, and another existence.

A recurring theme in Mr Tan Choo Kai’s paintings appears to be the tranquillity of rural or natural life. In his oil painting of an unidentified British Village with no specific landmark, we escape from the suffocating restrictions of our steel cages into the vast fields of wild grass outstretched to the horizon. There, the pressures of becoming someone evaporate as we blend into a village of little people. The audience may picture themselves dancing merrily among wheat and barley tinted with a honeyed sheen or reclining under a sturdy Oak tree.

However, Mr Tan’s British village scene also appears to have a glazed or dreamlike touch, which may be inferred as a romanticisation of country life that may not be as rosy as it seems. This, perhaps, is a precaution against an overly simplistic or idealised view of the world and to be wary of dichotomous thinking. There are undeniable conveniences and luxuries to urban living, and likewise the fresh air and scenic view of the village may grow monotonous with time.

True to his name (Kai/凱), which can mean victory, happiness, and harmony, Mr Tan’s lifelong works champion the balance between pastel and neutral colours, the rural and the urban, and reality and ideals to attain a state of harmony and elevated happiness.

Echoing Bowles’ quote in the beginning, Mr Tan Choo Kai’s art speaks of the ephemerality of life, as the view before us may unexpectedly morph into a different form with time and human intervention. The palette that paints the sky may darken with passing storm clouds, the spectacular valley or village may be transformed into a concrete jungle, and the urban space may even be rejuvenated with natural reserves. Ironically, it is this transitory nature of things that arouses an urgency within us to be present and to occasionally stop, as we hurry along life, to smell the roses.

View Artwork