Chua Mia Tee

Chua Mia Tee was born in 1931 in China and moved to Singapore in 1937. He enrolled at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1950 and studied drawing, painting, watercolour sketching under the tutelage of pioneer artists such as Lim Hak Tai, Cheong Soo Pieng, Koh Tong Leong and See Hiang To. After graduating from NAFA in 1952, he taught art at the academy for some time, before he took on employment as a designer and illustrator at an advertising company. After his first solo show held at the Rising Art Gallery in 1974, he gave up his full-time job as a commercial artist in order to concentrate on painting and sculpture.

Known as one of Singapore’s most eminent painters in the vivid, realist style, Chua’s body of work includes colourful koi, majestic animals as well as panoramic views and sprawling landscapes of countries he has visited. His landscape repertoire alone ranges from spectacular mountains, rivers and forests to nostalgic scenes of urban life in Singapore, featuring people and street markets, along with the iconic Singapore River and early Chinatown establishments.

A remarkable painter of portraiture, he has also completed many commissions to paint several dignitaries and Presidents of Singapore. Alongside his historic moments works, these types of painting not only portray the individual mood and emotion but also reveal the lively vigour and charisma of the figures he depicted.

Besides participating in art exhibitions in Singapore, Chua has exhibited in Australia, Belgium, Germany, New Zealand and several countries in Southeast Asia. He was formerly Chairman of the Editorial Board of Nanyang Arts magazine and is now Life Member of the Singapore Arts Society and the NAFA Alumni Association. Chua is the 2015 recipient of the Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest national honour for contributions to art and culture.