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Appreciation of fine arts
Written by 24 April 2021
It was surreal to be able to explore the different art pieces in the Asian Civilisation Museum and National Gallery of Singapore. I used to visit them alone without a guide and I could only observe and contemplate the possible meaning behind those paintings. And for the time at the age of 29 years old, I decided to sign up for a guided tour and lo and behold, I learnt so much in the span of around 1 hour plus for each guided tour. The most fascinating painting is the one painted by a well-known artist from China who came to Singapore to be commissioned to paint people from the upper class of society. Sadly, I do not have the pictures of the paintings with me. The painting from this China-born artist has gone through different historical moments of time. The artist and the main character in the painting were photographed with the painting itself. It was so amazing to be able to see the actual black and white photograph. And to be able to witness the actual painting in real-time is really an honour for me who has a strong interest in art paintings. The Dorset captivated all of us with the meaningful story behind the painting. The painting was lost at a point in time and was found again. I asked out of curiosity whether the value will go up once the lost item is found and send for auction. The answer is a definite yes. I just found the description from my folder. The artist is Xu BeiHong.
The other painting below is my favourite. The artist painted his girlfriend who eventually becomes his wife. The cool thing about the painting is that the artist seems to highly trained in different mediums of art such as ink and oil paint to be able to execute such precision. There is an amazing reflection of light on her arms and on her hair. The clothes are beautifully painted with such amazing accuracy that I am still in awe of the whole painting. The artist must be really in love with the girl of his dreams. I love the detailed pattern on her white shirt. There is a shining feature that is just so stunning. My heart is just screaming right now because I can never do that, let alone start anything!
At my favourite Ode to Art gallery, Lee Jung Woong, a South Korean artist executed it really well. A timeless piece! The fine lines of the brush are just so beautiful and I love how the artist painted the splatter of ink with care. I could just stare at the fine lines of the brush for hours. I wonder when this interest in fine arts started but this interest in appreciating fine arts help me to think about the effort of highly trained artists on their masterpieces. Someone like me who could not afford to collect them, can only afford to appreciate them from the heart.
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