Born in China in 1906, Georgette Chen Li Ying received her art education in Paris, New York as well as in Shanghai. Chen’s artistic oeuvre can be divided into three phases, French Period (1927-1933); China-Hong Kong Period (1934-1948) and Penang-Singapore Period (1949-1980). Immensely inspired by her surroundings she produced still lifes, portraits and landscapes from each phase. Settling in Singapore in 1954, she taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts till her retirement in 1980. Regarded as a Pioneer Artist of Singapore who developed the Nanyang Style, she was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1982. Chen passed away in 1993 in Singapore.Many of Chen’s still life works feature exotic flowers and in this work is Dutchman’s Pipe, commonly known as ‘Keng Hua’ in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect of the Fujian Province. This large fragrant flower, believed by the Chinese to bring good luck, lasts for a short time: it blooms in the night and wilts before the next dawn.
