Sun Moon Lake

Tan Swie Hian (1943) was born in Indonesia and migrated to Singapore as a child. After graduating from Singapore's Nanyang University in 1968, he worked at the French Embassy for 24 years before becoming a full-time artist. In 1985, Tan was awarded the Gold Medal of the French Artist Salon and in 1987, the Singapore Cultural Medallion. In 1993, Tan became the first Singapore artist to have a private museum dedicated to the display of his extensive oeuvre of artistic and literary works. In 2003, he received the World Economic Forum Crystal Award and Singapore Meritorious Award.� 'Sun Moon Lake�' depicts the lake in Taiwan, famed for its scenic beauty in particular its unusual shape where one half is round like the sun and the other is like the crescent moon. Tan captures the mysterious charm of the lake under twinkling stars. This painting is executed in the style reminiscent of Southern Song landscape paintings, where soft subtle washes were used to suggest the gentle scenery and climate of Jiangnan. Tan�'s mastery of the medium is reflected in this monochromatic work, using ink to suggest everything, from pale watery reflections to the full opacity of the isle that sits in the middle of the lake.