Celebrating Georgette Chen

Today’s Google Doodle honors Singaporean artist Georgette Chen, a founder of the post-Impressionist Nanyang painting style, on the 91st anniversary of her first exhibition at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.

Georgette Chen Li Ying was born in Zhejiang, China in October 1906. She grew up mostly in Paris but traveled frequently throughout China and to New York. This cosmopolitan upbringing exposed her to the mixture of cultures that would eventually shape her pioneering art. Chen’s debut followed an invitation to showcase her artwork at an exhibition hosted in one of Paris’ most prestigious modern art salons, the Salon d’Automne, which began on this day in 1930.

In 1953, Chen settled in Singapore, where she helped found the Nanyang style of painting–an experimental style that combined Asian subjects and themes with Western styles and techniques. Chen was among the generation of Chinese-born artists who emigrated to Singapore to join the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where she taught for 26 years. She became renowned for her refined brushwork, which infused her paintings with a dreamlike quality. 

Chen produced numerous works that received global acclaim including “Mosque in Kuala Lumpur” (1957) and “Singapore Waterfront” (1958). Her work was exhibited around the world, from New York to Kuala Lumpur. The Doodle artwork evokes Chen’s Nanyang style. Starting from the left: A basket of rambutan, an easel, the artist herself, a dried chili plant, a bitter melon, and then a teapot—all elements inspired by her work. 

In 1982, she received the Cultural Medallion—a national award that honors the achievements of major contributors to Singapore’s artistic and cultural landscape. As a contributing member to her local community, Chen was the administrator for the Lee Foundation Fund for the Encouragement of Local Talent in the Fine Arts and on the council of the Singapore Arts Society. Singaporean children still learn about the country’s culture from the 2009 book “Georgette’s Mooncakes,” which explores Chen’s “Still Life: Moon Festival Table'' (1965-1968).

Thank you for your contributions to the global art scene in the face of an ever-changing world, Georgette Chen!

Early drafts of the Doodle below