Early life and education

Dr. Cheah Thien Soong (born 1942,

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

) is a contemporary ink-painting artist in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Cheah is considered the second generation of Nanyang-style contemporary ink-painting artist. He graduated from Chung Hua High School in Seremban, Malaysia in 1959 before proceeding to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA); (Standard Chinese: 南洋艺术学院; ms, Akademi Seni Halus Nanyang; ta, நன்யாங் அகாடமி ஆஃப் ஃபைன் ஆர்ட்ஸ்) is a publicly-funded post-secondary ar ...

. There, he studied both Chinese and Western painting under the tutelage of artists such as Chen Wen Xi, Choong Soo Peng, Chen Zhong Rui, Shi Xiang Tuo, and

Georgette Chen Georgette Liying Chendana Chen (; Born Chang Li Ying; 23 October 1906 – 15 March 1993), most commonly known as Georgette Chen, was a Singaporean painter and one of the pioneers of Modernism, modern Visual art of Singapore, Singaporean art as ...

. He held his first exhibitions in 1962, and has since won a number of awards from art institutes in Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. His paintings often include trees. From 1990 to 2002, he served as a lecturer at the

Malaysian Institute of Art Malaysian Institute of Art, abbreviated as MIA, was founded in 1967 as a higher art education provider and accredited by the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education. MIA provides courses in the field of creative art and music with course conten ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

; he also returned to his hometown to found the Seremban Institute of Art. He received his doctorate from the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has c ...

in 2002. As a result of a trip he took to

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

in 2003, he has branched out from canvas and taken up the challenge of painting on porcelain, creating works with Malaysian subjects painted onto

Jingdezhen Jingdezhen is a prefecture-level city, in northeastern Jiangxi province, with a total population of 1,669,057 (2018), bordering Anhui to the north. It is known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing Chinese ceramics for at leas ...

clay.

Family

Cheah has two younger brothers, who both live in

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

; since 1991, he has gone to Guangxi every two or three years to visit them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheah, Thien Soong 1942 births Living people Malaysian painters People from Negeri Sembilan