17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Bangkok Post
Singapore exhibition spotlights Asian artists in interwar Paris
National Gallery Singapore invites all to its exhibition "City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s-1940s" to explore the contributions of Asian artists to modernism in a global context.
Running at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery of the National Gallery Singapore until Aug 17, this groundbreaking exhibition foregrounds the legacy of Asian artists in interwar Paris, presenting over 200 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, lacquerware and decorative arts, along with 200 archival materials and images.
"As the Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, we seek to deepen the exploration of our region's art history within a global context by reframing narratives through a distinctly regional lens," said Eugene Tan, chief executive officer and director of the National Gallery Singapore.
"'City of Others' continues our commitment to present fresh perspectives on modern art by highlighting often-overlooked figures who played important roles in shaping this significant period in art history."
The first section explores how Asian artists presented themselves to European audiences. In Self-Portrait With Cat (1926), Japanese-French painter Foujita Tsuguharu cast himself as a pensive artist at a table in his room, surrounded by a canvas, an ink stone, a stick, fine brushes and accompanied by his cat. Other artists include Le Pho, Mai Trung The, Georgette Chen, Liu Kang and Pai Un-soung.
The next section shows how Asian artists contributed to the Art Déco movement in Paris after the 1920s. Highlights include jewellery and lacquerware, including those from the atelier of leading designer Jean Dunand.
His impressive work La Forêt (Forest) (1930) is a 6m-long folding screen painted with gold and silver lacquer.
The exhibition also chronicles colonial propaganda and anti-colonial resistance. For example, newspaper cartoons made in Paris by future Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh are reproduced in the exhibition. New graduates from the École de Beaux Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi had their works exhibited at the International Colonial Exposition of 1931. On view is L'ge Heureux (The Happy Age) (1930) by Le Pho.
Visitors can learn about the impact that Montparnasse, an artistic hub in Paris, had on artists. Surrounded by studios, informal art schools and cafes, the area encouraged Asians to interact with other creative minds, many of whom were migrants from other parts of Europe, such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Moise Kisling. It concludes with the impact of WWII and decolonisation on art.
