Synopsis:

The 1950s to 1970s was a period where Singapore painting enjoyed unprecedented success in terms of its number of practitioners, reception through exhibitions and the emergence of movements and styles that were devoted to the craft.

Join art historian Jeffrey Say as he highlights some of the competing strands and tendencies of painting from this period, such as the Nanyang style, abstraction, social realism and watercolour and ink.

He will examine how painting has been influenced and shaped by aesthetic and modernist ideals, social concerns and political developments and will also draw on examples from the National Library's collection.

About the Speaker
Besides developing its art history programmes, Jeffrey Say has been teaching at LASALLE College of the Arts since 1997. In 2009, he designed the first Masters programme to focus on Asian modern and contemporary art histories. He is currently its programme leader.

As an art historian, Jeffrey carried out pioneering research by undertaking the first extensive study of the history of sculpture in pre-and post-war Singapore. In his professional capacity, Jeffrey has curated visual arts exhibitions and contributed essays to both local and overseas exhibition catalogues.

He frequently gives talks on art history at museums, universities and galleries and conducts short courses in art history which are extremely popular.