Ang Ah Tee is a second-generation Singapore artist. The 1962 Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts graduate and watercolour, oil and acrylic painter is best known for his vivid landscape paintings inspired by his extensive travels around the world as well as for his compelling abstract works. He is also one of the nation’s most prolific artists, and has held 11 solo exhibitions, participating in many group exhibitions internationally. In 2009, Ang received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual arts in Singapore.

Born in 1943 in Singapore, Ang Ah Tee discovered a passion for art at a very young age, beginning to paint when he was five. Wanting to go to an art school after his secondary school studies, Ang faced initial disapproval from his mother, who eventually allowed him to enrol at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

This began Ang’s formal art education, and he was tutored by Singapore art pioneers in the three years he spent at the academy. Among his teachers, he counts Georgette Chen and Cheong Soo Pieng—both pioneering Nanyang style artists—as having the most significant influence on his art. Chen would inculcate in Ang the importance of building a strong foundation in his artistic studies and practice, and Cheong’s creativity was a source of constant inspiration for Ang.

When he graduated, he started working as a clerk in the Port of Singapore Authority in order to make a living for himself. While there, he continued to paint in his free time. In 1974, he won the Open Art Competition organised by the Port of Singapore Authority and participated in a group exhibition in the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Over the years, his increasingly long and irregular working hours meant that he had less time for his art. He decided to leave his job in 1977 so that he could become a full-time artist.

His initial years as a full-time artist were challenging for Ang as he struggled to support himself. But with the support of Della Butcher, who was a champion of Singapore artists and who held many of Ang’s solo exhibitions at her art gallery, Ang gained exposure and financial support as his paintings regularly sold well at these exhibitions. Ang then began travelling, at first to regional destinations such as Bali, Bangkok, Delhi and Hong Kong, and then later on a tour of Europe and other countries.

Initially known for his early watercolour and oil paintings of Singapore landmarks such as Chinatown, the Singapore River, Little India and Victoria Memorial Hall, Ang’s expeditions around the world resulted in vibrant, often lyrical depictions of diverse landmarks, cityscapes, townscapes and villagescapes in acrylic, such as his renowned works Kashmir (1994), Shanghai (1994) and First Day of Summer (1996).

Ang’s switch to the fast-drying medium of acrylic enabled him to combine the techniques of both watercolour and oil painting, and to paint spontaneously and speedily. His works, comprising both abstract and representational paintings, grew in scale. They became characterised by glowing and dense images richly textured and coloured with a warm, personal palette of reds, golds, browns and yellows, or monochromatic silver-greys applied with the strong, sure strokes of his palette knife.

Through his career, Ang exhibited his art at many solo and group exhibitions both in Singapore and internationally. In 2009. Ang received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual arts in Singapore.

Today, Ang continues to paint and is currently exploring the combination of Western elements with Chinese ink strokes. His many landscape and abstract works remain well sought-after by collectors around the region and can be found around the world in locations as diverse as the Istana in Singapore and the permanent mission of the United Nations in New York, USA.