National Language Class by Chua Mia Tee.      Year: 1950.   Medium: Oil on canvas.   Size: 112 x 153 cm.

Chua Mia Tee's National Language Class is charged with anti-colonial nationalistic content and is a fine example of Social Realist work to Chua, who came to Singapore in 1937 and attended NAFA from 1952 to 1957, art must reflect real life. It need not necessarily be fully naturalistic but it must be firmly grounded in reality, so that the work is in no way ambiguous but rather offers an easily accessible point of reference for the viewer.

-- Channels & Confluences: A History of Singapore Art, chapter 16.

References

Kwok Kian Chow. Channels & Confluences: A History of Singapore Art. Singapore: National Heritage Board/Singapore Art Museum, 1996. Plate 47.

This document is part of a joint project of the Singapore Art Museum and the Honours Core Curriculum, National University of Singapore. This image and accompanying text appears here with the kind permission of the Singapore Art Museum.

Last updated: April 2000