Still Life with Cut Apple and Orange by Georgette Chen.  Year: c. 1928-1930.  Medium: Oil on canvas.  Size: 26 x 34 cm.

"Georgette Chen's earlier works were rendered with heavy brush strokes and texture. An excellent example is Still Life with Cut Apple and Orange which reveals traces of the influence of Paul Cezanne. Chen combined the use of dynamic brush strokes with dark, heavy tones filled with vigour and energy to suggest volume and texture. The apples and oranges are made more tangible through a focused and compact composition, giving immediacy and conviction to the still-life, a quality which is consistently found in Chen's paintings, The vitality of the colours of the fruits and their different textures contrast with the vague and gray background colours to achieve a calculated and sensitive balance of elements in the painting."

-- Channels & Confluences, ch. 14

References

Kwok Kian Chow. Channels & Confluences: A History of Singapore Art. Singapore: National Heritage Board/Singapore Art Museum, 1996. Plate 43.

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