In my collection, let me share a painting by renowned Chinese-American artist Chen Yanning (陈衍宁). Entitled Fondness for Pigeons, this painting shows a Chinese ethnic minority girl in traditional apparel sitting on the ground, surrounded by eight pigeons, four in white and another four in greyish blue. Beside the girl is a basket full of freshly plucked ripe loquat fruits, popular and well-liked in Southern China.
After reading my accounts of the artist’s prize-winning oil paintings, some friends asked whether I could show his painting of Aung San Suu Kyi. She is a prominent female politician in Myanmar who the military-controlled government is now imprisoning. The painting was created in 1997. After the death of her English husband, the painting was donated to Oxford University, where she studied. But it seems that recently it has been taken down. Whether it has to do with Myanmar’s treatment of the Muslim Rohingya people is unclear.
Besides her portrait in a gold and orange dress, I am also attaching photos of a portrait of Princess Margaret (with the artist), the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, and a portrait of famous English actress Jane Asher dated 1991, priced at US$ 500,000.00.
Tan It Koon
Before retirement, Dr Tan It Koon was, among many appointments, Head of Clinical Biochemistry at SGH’s Dept of Pathology. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust and Chairman for Grants and Scholarships of the Spore Cultural Foundation. He received the National Day Awards, PBM, and PPA, for his contribution to cultural and community development and excellence in Public Administration.
