1. In 1982, Georgette Chen was awarded the Cultural Medallion for her contributions to the visual arts in Singapore.
22 Facts About Georgette Chen
1. 2.
On 15 March 1993, Georgette Chen died of complications from rheumatoid arthritis after an 11-year struggle with the ailment.
3.
Georgette Chen was born on 23 October 1906, the fourth of 12 children in Chekiang, Qing Dynasty.
4.
Georgette Chen's father Zhang Renjie, was an antique dealer with businesses in Paris, London, and New York City.
5.
Georgette Chen's father met Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Kuomintang and the first Provisional President of the Republic of China, while aboard the SS Tonkin steamship.
6.
Georgette Chen attended high school in the US, and studied art at the Art Students League of New York for a year in 1926.
7.
Georgette Chen felt that Parisian life suited her better, and in 1927 she returned home to study at the Academie Colarossi and Academie Biloul in Paris.
8.
In 1930, two of Georgette Chen's works were selected for inclusion in the Salon d'Automne exhibition in Paris.
9.
Georgette Chen was introduced to Eugene in 1927 by their mutual friend Madame Sun Yat-sen.
10.
Georgette Chen was a lover of music and the arts, supportive of Chen's work towards becoming a professional artist.
11.
Georgette Chen would be Eugene's second wife after the death of his first wife, Agatha Alphosin Ganteaume.
12.
In 1949, Georgette Chen held a major solo exhibition at the Asia Institute in New York, presenting paintings of China's landscapes and portraits that she created after the war.
13.
That same year, the couple moved to Paris, where Georgette Chen participated in the Salon d'Automne in Paris for the last time.
14.
In 1951, with Georgette Chen longing to return to Asia, the couple relocated to Penang, Malaya.
15.
In 1953, Georgette Chen mounted a solo exhibition of 80 paintings from her artistic practice in Malaya, notably still life paintings of local fruits and landscapes of Penang and Ipoh, at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
16.
Georgette Chen finalised her divorce from Ho that year in Singapore, where she settled permanently and would spend the most artistically significant years of her life.
17.
From 1954 to 1980, Georgette Chen would contribute significantly to visual art education in Singapore, working as a part-time art teacher at NAFA.
18.
Georgette Chen was awarded the Singapore Cultural Medallion in 1982 for her contributions to visual art in Singapore.
19.
Georgette Chen died of complications from rheumatoid arthritis on March 15,1993, at Mount Alvernia Hospital after an 11-year struggle with the ailment.
20.
Georgette Chen is historicised as a significant figure in the development of modern art in Singapore, widely recognised for her achievements as an artist and contributions as an educator.
21.
In 2007, playwright Ng Yi-Sheng's musical Georgette Chen was staged by Musical Theatre Ltd.
22.
On 1 November 2021, Georgette Chen would be celebrated in a Singapore and Malaysia-specific Google Doodle coinciding with the 91st anniversary of her first exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in Paris.