The painting of Lee Man Fong and his biography

Lee Man Fong was born on 14 November 1913 in Guangdong, China. Fong moved to Singapore in 1917 and studied at Anglo-Chinese school until 1929. Migrated to Java in 1932 and worked for Kolff, a Dutch printing and publishing. In 1936, the head of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia Fong Association invited to participate in an exhibition, a great honor because it was the first Dutch artist to be given this invitation. He was married to lie Muk Lan - pianist - and his son Lee Rem, born 1938, was also a painter who later presented with his father.

After 1940, Fong was devoted full time to painting. He visited Bali, briefly working there, and solo exhibitions, held in Jakarta and Bandung. Fong quickly gained recognition for his paintings of subjects in Bali, many influenced by the work of Willem Hofker. Then held a solo exhibition in Jakarta in 1941, after which he was interned by the Japanese.

In 1949, Fong received a scholarhip Malino to study art in the Netherlands Dutch. He was there for three years and then returned to Indonesia, where his talent was recognized by President Sukarno, who became an art consultant.

Fong from 1955 to 1961 served as president of Yinhua Meishu Xiehui (Society of Chinese Artists in Indonesia). From 1961 to 1966 he served as court painter at the presidential palace. In 1964, Lee Man Fong, along with Lim Wasim, compiled a 5-volume edition of the Collection of Soekarno, which also included many of his own works.

During this period Fong was granted Indonesian citizenship. In 1967, when Sukarno fell from grace, man Fong, who was considered close to Sukarno, and claimed to have Communist leanings, and this resulted in the artist's decision to move to Singapore in 1970. His career continued to flourish, and he often gave economic commissions by Chinese businessmen who wanted the painting of Chinese zodiac animals.

The 1980 Lee Man Fong suffered kidney and heart disease, and became increasingly private.

Lee Man Fong, who returned to Indonesia in 1985, died on 3 April 1988 in Jakarta.


Tags: Art, Painting