Born in 1933 in Singapore, Tan Choo Kuan was trained in Western Art at Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. A dedicated art teacher and prolific artist, Tan’s legacy was recognised in October 2005 with the Singapore Art Museum’s acquisition of 74 select sketches and drawings on paper completed between 1953 and 2005.A few years prior to the Museum’s acquisition of Tan’s drawings, Tan had an “epiphany of nature” and re-devoted himself to sketching its many wonders. In particular, he was drawn to “...the silhouette of grand elegant old trees and serene bushes... They stimulated my thoughts and emotions”. As many of the titles of these works in the collection indicate, Tan’s muses could be found in green areas around Singapore, such as Bukit Timah Hill, Mount Faber, Kent Ridge, MacRitchie Reservoir, Botanical Gardens, West Coast, and Fort Canning Park, as well as Kampung Fatimah and Pulau Ubin.
