Early life and education

Dr. Cheah Thien Soong (born 1942,

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...

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. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. 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 an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA; zh, 南洋艺术学院; ; ) is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution in Singapore, and a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) from 2024. NAFA offers courses at high-s ...

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

Chen Zhong Rui Chen or Ch'en may refer to: People *Chen (surname) (陳 / 陈), a common Chinese surname *Chen (singer) (born 1992), member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO * Chen Chen (poet) (born 1989), Chinese-American poet * (), a Hebrew first na ...

, Shi Xiang Tuo, and

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

. 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 Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

; 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 ...

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

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

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 eastern 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 least 1,0 ...

clay.

Family

Cheah has two younger brothers, who both live in

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

; 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