About People

1
About People

• Ng Eng Teng

2
Enduring Understanding

• Students will understand that artworks
• do encapsulate the themes of identity
• and relationships in a variety of ways

3
Essential Questions

• Overarching Questions
• What is an identity?
• How can relationships within a family or society
  be shaped?
• How artists form identity or relationships with
  their art?
• Topical Questions
• How does abstraction enhance the theme of
  identity and relationships?

4
5W1H
5
Biographical Outline

• 1945 Born in Singapore.
• 1955 Took painting and sculpture at British
  Council.
• 1956 Attended NAFA and left soon after due to
  illness.
• 1959 Re-enrolled in NAFA and studied under
  the Pioneer Artists.
• 1962-63 Studied pottery with North Staffordshire
  College of Technology/Stoke-On-Trent
  School of Art, UK.
• 1963-64 Studied studio pottery at Farnham School
  of Art in Surrey.
• 1966 Set up a workshop and studio at home.
• 2001 Died in his sleep.

6
When (1934- 2001)

• 1938 Establishment of NAFA.
• 1942-45 Japanese Occupation of Singapore.
• 1952 Nanyang Artists visit to Bali.
• 1964 Racial Riots.
• 1965 Singapore gained independence.
• 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

7
Where

• Singapore
• The art world of the 60s and 70s were dominated
  by
• paintings. Little was known about pottery and
  sculpture.
• UK
• Greater exposure to Western sculptors in UK.

8
Which

• Contemporary
• Art that belongs to the same period of
• time, as in current.
• Refers to the present time, as in now.
• Can also refer to being current with any
• specified time, as in the past.

9
Liu Kang's Influence
Going to Market, 1957 by Liu Kang Oil,
Girl with Two Apples, 1958 Oil on board, 50 x 41
cm
10
Georgette Chen's Influence
In the Kitchen, 1960 Oil on board, 55.5 x 80 cm
Watermelons, 1940-45 by Georgette Chen Oil on
canvas, 61.4c x 50.3 cm
11
Cheong Soo Piengs Influence
Preparing Rice Flour, 1960 Oil on canvas, 60 x 87
cm
Drying Salted Fish, 1960 by Cheong Soo
Pieng Chinese ink and colour, 55 x 88 cm
12
Which
Refers to the styles developed by the Nanyang
Artists who were influenced by School of Paris
and local subject matter. Their visit to Bali
culminated in an exhibition that catapulted art
in Singapore onto an unprecedented plane. This
marked a significant moment in the history of
Singapore art.

• Who Nanyang Artists
• Liu Kang
• Cheong Soo Pieng
• Chen Wen Hsi
• Chen Chong Swee
• Lim Cheng Hoe
• Georgette Chen

Nanyang Style
When- 1930s to 1970s
13
Which
Imagery that departs from representational
accuracy via selection, exaggeration or
simplification of forms (http//artlex.com/).
Abstraction
Bewitched, 1992 Bronze, 68 x 58 x 28 cm
Abstract Torso I, 1992 Coloured marker on
watercolour paper, 76.5 x 56 cm
14
Which- Abstraction
Growth Form, 1962 Ciment Fondu, 46 x 53 x 57 cm
This is one of the earliest non-representational
sculptures in Singapore.
15
What

• Subject Matter
• Figures- have the capacity of movements to
  interpret emotions, convey stories.
• Head- viewed as the convergence of the complex
  psychological and physiological features that
  distinguishes humans- on par with how the head is
  esteemed in European art.
• Torso- viewed as a powerful symbol of emotion and
  feeling, when used as a whole or in parts like
  appendages and torsos.
• Imaginative- in utilizing the above, for eg
  humanoid looking sculptures.

16
What

• Theme
• Relationships
• Within the family- between mother and child, or
  father and child, or both parents and child.
• In an Asian context- mother plays a nurturing
  role and thus more physically intimate with the
  child, while the father plays a supportive role
  and thus more distant.
• Human Condition/Experience
• Social and psychological issues. The good and
  bad side of life. The achievements and downfall
  of mankind.
• The experience of humanity- love, hope,
  the joy of living as well as dejection,
  rejection, despair, fear and sorrow (Koh, B. S.,
  1997).

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What- Imagination Humour
Head Teapot, 1962 Stoneware, 31.5 x 45 x 16 cm
I Spy II, 1995 Stoneware, 57 x 34 x 29 cm
Centre Hair Parting, 1992 Earthenware, 24 x 16 x
13.5 cm
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What
Overarching theme- humanity and life.
Human Condition- Good and bad side of
life. Achievements and downfall of mankind.
My works are reflections of my thoughts and
experiences In visual form. The creative
impulses come not from the environment
immediately around but from a universal world and
from my own inner tensions. My sculptures speak
of individual alienation, pain, poverty, loss of
life as well as justice and love. In short, my
works are from and of life and humanity. - Ng
Eng Teng -
Family- upbringing and relationships
19
His Ceramics
Bowl, 1962 Earthenware, 6 x 14 x 14 cm
Mountain Cloud I, 1987 Stoneware, 45 x 31.5 x
11.5 cm
Torso, 1994 Stoneware, 78 x 42 x 23 cm
20
His Sculptures
Singapore Girl, 1960-61 Terracotta, 37 x 16 x 14
cm
Portrait Head of Mother, 1973 Ciment fondu, 30 x
19 x 23 cm
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Organic Forms

• Timid Dancer, 1990
• Ceramics, 112 x 26 x 26 cm

Plump Dancer, 1990 Ceramics, 89 x 36 x 36 cm
22
Biomorphic Forms
Wondering, 1992 Bronze, 96 x 67 x 37 cm
Dreaming, 1992 Bronze, 67 x 51 x 25 cm
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What is a Biomorphic Form?

• The term is the Greek word bios meaning life
  combined with the word morphe meaning form. It
  is nevertheless abstract which evokes living
  forms like plants and human body. It was used n
  the 1930s to describe imagery in the more
  abstract types of Surrealist painting and
  sculpture, particularly those of Joan Miró (see
  inset), Henry Moore and Louise Bourgeois.

Person Throwing a Stone at a Bird, 1926 by Joan
Miró Oil on canvas, 73.7 x 92.1 cm Museum of
Modern Art, new York
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Relationship
Lovers II, 1974 Ciment fondu, 29 x 36 x 36 cm
25
Relationship
Pride of a Mother, 1978 Stoneware 42 x 14 x 14 cm
Nonya Mother, 1978 Stoneware 45 x 22 x 15 cm
26
Relationship
Mother and Child, 1980 Ciment fondu, 42 x 14 x 14
cm Orchard Road, outside Far East Shopping Centre
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Relationship
Front View
Back View
Over Mothers Head, 1990 Bronze, 103 x 40 x 38 cm
Over Mothers Head, 1990 Bronze, 103 x 40 x 38 cm
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Relationship through Faith
Madonna and Child II, 1990 Bronze, 89 x 55 x 41 cm
29
Relationship
Father and Son, 1978 Ciment fondu, 62 x 50 x 35 cm
Father and Son, Year unknown Stoneware, 24 x
18.5 x 12 cm
30
Relationship
Parents and Child I, 1979 Stoneware, 16.5 x 11.5
x 7.5 cm
Parents and Child II, 1979 Stoneware, 25.5 x 25.5
x 6.5 cm
31
Relationship Human Condition
Responsibility II, 1985 Ciment Fondu, 94 x 65 x
30 cm
Responsibility I, c. 1960 Ciment Fondu, 30.5 x 16
x 16 cm
32
Relationship- Comparison
Family Group, 1949 by Henry Moore Bronze (ed. of
4), 154 x 118 x 70 cm Tate Gallery, UK
Parents and Child I, 1979 Stoneware, 16.5 x 11.5
x 7.5 cm
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Comparison with Moore

• Henry Moore (1898-1986)
• A famous modern sculptor and most celebrated at
  his time.
• He was born in Castleford Yorkshire and won a
  scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London
  at 23 years old.
• He visited museums regularly in London and began
  to acquire an interest in primitive art,
  especially Pre-Columbian sculpture.
• His technique- he started with direct carving but
  later changed to modelling.
• He once said- The difference between modelling
  and carving is that modelling is a quicker thing,
  and so it becomes a chance to get rid of one's
  ideas.

34
Comparison with Moore
Reclining Figure, 1951 by Henry Moore Plaster
and string, 105.4 x 227.3 x 89.2 cm Tate
Gallery, UK
Reclining, Year unknown Stoneware, 6.5 x 15.5 x
4.5 cm
35
Comparison with Moore
Seated Woman Thin Neck, 1961 by Henry Moore
Plaster, 170.2 x 81.3 x 103.5 cm Tate Gallery,
UK

• Seated Woman, Year unknown
• Stoneware, 14 x 21 x 10.5cm

36
Comparison with Giacometti
Lotar III, 1965 by Alberto Giacometti Bronze,
65.5x 28 x 35.5 cm
Maxi, 1969 Ciment Fondu, 50 x 26 x 22 cm
37
Comparison with Giacometti

• Alberto Giacometti (1880-1959)
• He was born in 1901 in Italian-speaking
  Switzerland.
• He attended School of Fine Arts in Geneva and
  studied under sculptor Antoine Bourdelle (an
  associate of Rodin) when in Paris.
• He experimented with cubism and surrealism while
  in Paris.
• Although he was a key player in the Surrealist
  movement, the nature of his work and his
  relationship with Existentialist Jean Paul Sartre
  aligns him with the Existentialist movement.
• He was eventually expelled from the Surrealist
  group.

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Human Condition/Experience
Old Age, 1960 Oil on canvas, 86 x 60 cm
Blind Woman, 1960 Oil on board, 61 x 32.5 cm
39
Human Condition/Experience
Tragedy of War II, 1967 Teracotta, 68 x 18 x 48
cm
Tragedy of War I, 1966 Teracotta, 36 x 36 x 36
cm
40
Human Condition/Experience
Tension (mobile), 1972 Ciment Fondu, 38 x 35 x 35
cm
Pancake, 1980 Ciment Fondu, 13 x 80 x 8 cm
41
Human Condition/Experience
Fear I, 1978 Stoneware, 11.5 x 12 x 12 cm
Fear II, 1978 Ciment fondu, 50 x 56 x 51 cm
42
Human Condition/Experience
Fright, 1979 Stoneware, oil painted 10.5 x 17.5 x
13 cm
43
Why

• His Background
• His family upbringing, education and religion
  influence his art forms and content.
• He studied under Nanyang artists like Liu Kang,
  Georgette Chen and Cheong Soo Pieng. Their
  influences are evident in some of his paintings.
• He met Jean Bullock, with whom he was exposed to
  sculpture and learnt about the material ciment
  fondu.
• The artist has a compassion for human suffering,
  in our environment of poverty, over-population
  and strife.

44
Why

• His Background
• Humanity and life itself inspires him
• He works with the figural tradition of Henry
  Moore. (Sheares, 1991).
• His abstraction is sometimes reminiscent of the
  simplicity and reduction of Giacometti and
  Brancusi.
• His Inspiration
• He admires the emotional and powerful elements in
  Jacob Epsteins works.

45
Why- His Influence

• Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)
• He was an American-born sculptor who worked in
  UK.
• He pioneered the modern sculpture.
• He often produced controversial works that
  challenged the taboos concerning what public
  artworks should depict.
• His technique- direct carving.
• He was also a painter.

46
Why- His Influence

• Female Figure in Flenite, 1913
• by Jacob Epstein
• Serpentine, 45.7 x 95 x 12.1cm
• Tate Gallery, UK

• Torso, in Metal form The Rock Drill, 1913-14
• by Jacob Epstein
• Bronze, 70.5 x 58.4 x 44.5cm
• Tate Gallery, UK

47
How
Ciment fondu
Fast setting. It is strong and durable.
Typically used as a composite material, with
sand and water.
A type of cement in powder form.
Ciment fondu is a very beautiful material. You
can stain it to different colours and, should it
be damaged, you can repair it back to its
original condition - Ng Eng Teng -
48
How

• Other Media
• Stone
• Metal
• Clay- he prefers clay because it offers him
  direct and immediate manipulation.
• Bronze- he likes bronze because its malleable
  and durable.

49
How

• He works in series.
• He works preliminary with drawings and maquettes
  in clay before proceeding to the final
  sculptures.
• This is to help him conceptualize the final
  artworks.
• He uses form to increase the haptic (relating to
  touch) quality of his sculptures.
• He also avoids the conventions of proportion.
• Instead, he exaggerates specific parts of the
  body while reducing and even omitting others.

50
How
Others
Sculptures
Ceramics

• Throwing.
• Adding and subtracting.
• Modelling and moulding.

• Casting
• Modelling and moulding.

51
Reference

• Kwok, K. C. (1996). Channels Confluences A
  History of Singapore Art. Singapore Art Museum
  Singapore.
• Sabapathy, T.K. (1991). Sculpture in Singapore.
  National Museum Art Gallery Singapore.
• Sabapathy, T.K. (1998). Ng Eng Teng, Art and
  Thoughts. NUS Museums, NUS Singapore
• Sabapathy, T.K. (2002). Bodies and Figures, An
  Overview of Ng Eng Teng. NUS Museums, NUS
  Singapore.
• Sabapathy, T.K. (2003) Configuring the Body, Form
  and Tenor in Ng Eng Tengs Art. NUS Museums, NUS
  Singapore.
• Koh Buck Song (Ed) (1997). Southeast Asian Art A
  New Spirit. Art and Artist Speak Singapore.

52
Reference

• http//www.thecore.nus.edu/landow/post/singapore/a
  rts/sculptors/ngengteng/drawingov.html
• http//www.postcolonialweb.org/singapore/arts/scul
  ptors/ngengteng/paintingov.htmlttpsingapore/arts/s
  culptors/ngengteng/sculptureov.html
• http//www.bluffton.edu/sullivanm/mooretoronto/mo
  oretoronto.html
• http//www.tate.org.uk/