Georgette Chen

Georgette Chen 张荔英
Born	Chang Li Ying (Chinese: 张荔英; pinyin: Zhāng LìYīng) October 1906 China
Died	15 March 1993 (aged 86) Singapore
Nationality	Singapore
Education	Académie Colarossi Academie Biloul Art Students League of New York
Known for	Oil painting
Movement	Post-Impressionism
Awards	1982: Cultural Medallion (Visual arts)

Georgette Chen, born Chang Li Ying (Chinese: 张荔英; pinyin: Zhāng LìYīng) was a Singapore painter known for her Post-Impressionistic styled oil paintings at the turn of the 20th-century. She was a forerunner of the visual arts in Singapore, who contributed to the birth of the Nanyang art style in Singapore. Georgette Chen, also joined Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1954 as a teacher and lecturer until her hospitalisation. Georgette Chen was also the first lady teacher at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and also the only one schooled in Paris, France.

Chen was born the fourth of 12 children - 10 girls and 2 boys - in Zhejiang Province, China, in 1906. Her father Chang Sen Chek, was an antique dealer with businesses in Paris, London and New York City. He was also a supporter of Sun Yat Sen, and provided financial support to Sun's revolutionary cause. Though living in the West, the Chang couple was deeply rooted to their Chinese heritage. Mrs Chang allowed her children to speak only in Mandarin at home, while Mr Chang often brought his family along in his regular trips to China to support Sun's revolution, and to ensure that his children would never forget their own cultural identity.

Being born into a privileged life, Chen was exposed to art at a young age. For most of her life in Paris she would either be painting at home, visiting museums or roaming around the Parisian city every day. Chen attended high school in America, and studied art at the Art Students League of New York for a year in 1926. She felt that Parisian life suited her better and in 1927 she returned home to study at the Académie Colarossi and Académie Biloul in Paris. Though her parents provided financial support for her art education, they never fully accepted her decision to become a full-time artist, knowing that artists starved and would not succeed in their lifetime.

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