Liu Kang, Reclining Nude, 1999

Pastel on Paper
64.5 x 50 cm (visible), 85.5 x 71 cm (framed)
Condition: Very good

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Liu Kang, one of the founding figures of the Nanyang style, returned to the female nude throughout his long career. His fascination with the body took its best-known form in Bali, which he first visited in 1952 and wrote about at length, shaping a lifetime of work devoted to the figure. Here he works in black pastel, paring the body down to line and contour.

His commitment to the nude was lifelong, and unusually public for his generation. Well into his later years he was among the artists associated with Group 90, the life-drawing circle formed in 1990 by Solamalay Namasivayam to keep the figure alive as a discipline when few institutions would.

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Liu Kang 刘康 (Singaporean, 1911-2004) was born in Yongchun, Fujian, China, and is recognised as one of the most influential figures in Singapore’s modern art development. He received his early training at the Xinhua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai before furthering his studies in Paris in 1928, where exposure to Fauvism and European modernist ideas profoundly shaped his artistic vocabulary. After relocating to Singapore in 1937, he became a leading voice in forging a modern visual language that blended Western techniques with the colours, forms, and cultural contexts of Southeast Asia. His works from the Malayan Peninsula—rural scenes, kampung life, and studies of local communities—laid the foundation for what became known as the Nanyang art style.

Beyond his artistic practice, Liu Kang played a pivotal role in shaping Singapore’s cultural and institutional landscape. He was a founding member of the Singapore Art Society in 1949 and an active advocate for the growth of the local art scene, contributing essays, teaching, and supporting younger artists in developing a regional identity for modern art. His extensive body of work—ranging from oil paintings and sketches to prints and experimental studies—now forms an essential part of Singapore’s national collection and continues to be referenced in discussions of art education and art history in the region.

(Photographed in July 2026)

Pastel on Paper
64.5 x 50 cm (visible), 85.5 x 71 cm (framed)
Condition: Very good

-

Liu Kang, one of the founding figures of the Nanyang style, returned to the female nude throughout his long career. His fascination with the body took its best-known form in Bali, which he first visited in 1952 and wrote about at length, shaping a lifetime of work devoted to the figure. Here he works in black pastel, paring the body down to line and contour.

His commitment to the nude was lifelong, and unusually public for his generation. Well into his later years he was among the artists associated with Group 90, the life-drawing circle formed in 1990 by Solamalay Namasivayam to keep the figure alive as a discipline when few institutions would.

-

Liu Kang 刘康 (Singaporean, 1911-2004) was born in Yongchun, Fujian, China, and is recognised as one of the most influential figures in Singapore’s modern art development. He received his early training at the Xinhua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai before furthering his studies in Paris in 1928, where exposure to Fauvism and European modernist ideas profoundly shaped his artistic vocabulary. After relocating to Singapore in 1937, he became a leading voice in forging a modern visual language that blended Western techniques with the colours, forms, and cultural contexts of Southeast Asia. His works from the Malayan Peninsula—rural scenes, kampung life, and studies of local communities—laid the foundation for what became known as the Nanyang art style.

Beyond his artistic practice, Liu Kang played a pivotal role in shaping Singapore’s cultural and institutional landscape. He was a founding member of the Singapore Art Society in 1949 and an active advocate for the growth of the local art scene, contributing essays, teaching, and supporting younger artists in developing a regional identity for modern art. His extensive body of work—ranging from oil paintings and sketches to prints and experimental studies—now forms an essential part of Singapore’s national collection and continues to be referenced in discussions of art education and art history in the region.

(Photographed in July 2026)

Artwork located in: Singapore